Todd Eichman
Chief Financial Officer
Commercial Appliance Service, Inc.
Potential nominees for the CFESA Board complete a questionnaire. The following question is from that form, and below is Todd’s answer.
Question to candidates: Can you provide some examples of how you feel your industry exposure, business background and experience within CFESA will benefit the board and ultimately, the membership?
I believe that the experience I have gathered as a CFESA Board Member over the last 4 years has given me great insight into the inner workings of the industry, not only from the servicers’ side, but also from the manufacturers, dealers, reps, foodservice consultants, and many others viewpoints. Since my own business background was as a CPA in Silicon Valley for 15 years before coming into this industry, that gives me a different and valuable viewpoint than someone who may have been in this industry for many years. Based upon my exposure to and working with numbers and technology, I believe that I my professional experiences before and after becoming a Board Member will help me to provide excellent advice to the CFESA Board as its Treasurer.
Dear Fellow CFESA Members,
I hope this email finds you healthy and safe during these challenging and strange times. I know that 2020 has been one of the most unique and demanding years ever. The ordeals that we have all been through due to this disease are unprecedented and hopefully as things begin to return to normal, so too will our lives and businesses.
I am sending this email to you, asking for your vote for Treasurer in the upcoming CFESA election. Below is some information about my personal and professional background and what my goals will be as CFESA’s Treasurer.
My parents, John and Annette Skinner, founded Commercial Appliance Service Inc. in 1981 here in Sacramento, California and I grew up in the commercial appliance service industry. We started off as a very small family business and for me that meant working summers, holidays, weekends, and many other days for the business – for free, of course! As a kid who loved math, I had the responsibility of doing inventory cycle counts, stocking parts, picking and shipping, as well as updating parts price binders. I also had many fun times riding along with service techs as the resident gopher in addition to helping to refurbish used equipment by scraping out many fryer vats and cleaning and repainting ovens as well.
As I grew older, I knew that I wanted to be a numbers guy and I ended up getting my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Specialization in Accounting and Finance) from the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley. After graduation, I started my career in accounting with Deloitte & Touche and became a Certified Public Accountant. After working for 5 years in Audit and Tax at Deloitte and becoming a tax manager, I left public accounting for Silicon Valley. I spent over 10 years working for two Fortune 500 companies and several startups as Controller, Accounting Manager, & head of Financial Planning & Analysis. I gained invaluable accounting and FP&A experience with these companies as well as helping to lead the finance teams for 2 Initial Public Offerings. One day shortly after the second IPO, my parents called and said that were ready to move onto the next stage of their lives, so my brother and I partnered up to buy the business from them. Since then, as the co-owner and CFO for Commercial Appliance, I have helped to grow the company from 18 to 48 employees and increased our revenues almost 500%. Because of my professional experiences, I know I have the skills and tools to successfully take over the role of CFESA Treasurer from Wayne Stoutner, who has done an amazing job for us for so long.
The Treasurer position is an executive level role that should be independent, have a matter of fact, professional non-controversial leadership style, and be dedicated to serving the best interests all CFESA members. As Treasurer, the following would be my goals:
- I would be focused on CFESA’s financials, cash flow, and operations and help to run the business to highest and safest accounting standards possible.
- I would solely concentrate my time on CFESA and would not work on any other organization’s interests.
- I would be a non-partisan voice and treat all members of CFESA the same.
- I will be open minded, listen to and value all input from all CFESA members, and be their voice.
Thank you for taking the time to read my email and I hope that you choose to vote for me.
Sincerely,
Todd Eichman