Inaugural CFO of the Year Awards to honor three

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Financial officers may have the least glamorous job description, but their role has increasingly become the most important in any company.

They oversee budgets, forecast financials, manage cash flows and coordinate much dreaded audits and reviews.

They”™re the keeper of spreadsheets. They”™re the bearer of bad as well as good news. They are the first to know when things are looking up.

To recognize Westchester County”™s best, Westfair Communications is hosting, with TD Bank and McGladrey, the first CFO of the Year Awards Oct. 3 at Mapleton at Good Counsel, 52 N. Broadway, White Plains.

From a pool of 11 nominees with had been vetted, judges will announce three winners representing small, medium and large companies. Sponsors of the event are McGladrey, TD Bank and the Westchester County Business Journal.

And the nominees are:

Marshall Asche is CFO at St. Christopher”™s Inc. in Dobbs Ferry. Asche has been credited with modernizing the agency”™s fiscal control and reporting systems since starting in 2003. The Council on Accreditation rated the Finance Department last year as the best of the 11 major areas covered by the review. In an audit by the state Office of Children and Family Services, the agency”™s fiscal management practices were cited “as the strength of the agency.” Prior to St. Christopher”™s, Asche was a partner at an international CPA firm.

Susan Bartow is the CFO and director of human resources at School Choice International in White Plains. Since coming to the school placement and educational consultancy more than six years ago, Bartow has been credited with transforming its financial operations. In the past year the organization completed the acquisition of another company and opened two additional regional offices including one in Hong Kong. She is a certified public accountant and received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and an MBA in accounting from New York University ”“ Stern School of Business.

Tammy Belanger is the vice president and CFO for Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah. Belanger began working at Caramoor as an intern and became managing director while earning a B.A. degree in music management from Manhattanville College. Over the next several years she learned the operation from the ground up while obtaining an MBA with a concentration in accounting from the University of Phoenix. Shortly after completing her studies, she was promoted to the head of the finance department. Originally from Maine, Belanger and her two children, Justin and Jessica, reside in Carmel.

Jim Bremner is the CFO for VARTA Microbattery Inc. in Rye. VARTA develops and designs batteries used in a broad spectrum of applications. His career began as a CPA with Arthur Andersen L.L.P. in New York City, followed by working at Marc Jacobs Inc., part of the LVMH group. He serves on the board of directors for Call2Recycle, the battery industry recycling initiative and has served on the board of the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association. Bremner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Richmond. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and three children.

Gabriele Giudici is CFO of Heineken USA in White Plains. During his tenure, he has been credited with improving control and effectiveness of key financial processes and established a revenue management team to further drive top line growth for the company. In his prior assignment as finance director of the Caribbean and Central America markets, he restructured the export office footprint to double financial results. Prior to working at Heineken, Giudici was a sales manager at HBI Telematica. He holds an International Executive Master of Finance and Control degree from the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, in addition to a degree in business economics from the University of Genoa, Italy.

Murray A. Goldberg is the senior vice president of administration at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Elmsford. He had been CFO for 18 years until his promotion Oct. 1. In addition to being CFO, Goldberg was vice president, finance and administration, and treasurer of Regeneron since March 1995.

Prior to joining Regeneron, he was vice president of finance, treasurer and CFO of PharmaGenics Inc. from February 1991 and a director of that company from May 1991. Goldberg received his MBA from the University of Chicago and a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Christopher Jones is a co-founder and CFO of Durante Rentals. The construction equipment rental business was founded four years ago, and together with his two partners John and Anthony Durante, it now has locations in the Bronx, Westchester and Queens. After graduating from The College of New Jersey, Jones started Progressive Solutions Inc., which provided outsourced accounting services. As his company grew he moved to New York City and worked with startup technology and new media companies as a part-time CFO where he raised several million dollars in venture capital for early stage companies. In 2007, Chris sold his consulting firm, and in 2009 co-founded Durante Rentals.

Maria Mazzotta is CFO at the Open Door Family Medical Centers in Ossining. She served as the organization”™s senior accountant from 1992 until her promotion to CFO in 2003. Mazzotta has full responsibility for the financial management of the center including the development of the operating budget, monthly financial reports to management and the board of trustees, internal controls, compliance and operating procedures, the annual audit, and cost and activity reports to government agencies. Prior to coming to Open Door, she worked at Jeffrey T. Latman and Co. as an auditor. She received her B.S. degree in accounting from St. John”™s University and is a certified public accountant.

Arthur Schwacke is CFO of ENT and Allergy Associates L.L.P. in Tarrytown. During his tenure, ENT and Allergy has grown into the largest and one of the most highly respected Otolaryngology and Allergy practices in the United States, currently with 145 physicians practicing in 40 state-of-the-art clinical locations. During the past 5 years, his efforts have secured over $32 million in bank financing to fund group expansion. Schwacke is also a co-founder of OASIS ”“ the risk retention group started by the practice in 2009 to insure its medical malpractice risk. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and a certified public accountant.

Spencer Schwartz is senior vice president and CFO of Atlas Air Worldwide in Harrison. He was named this year as one of the Top 10 CFOs by Aviation News and, in 2007, he was recognized by Treasury & Risk Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Finance. Schwartz is a CPA who earned an MBA from New York University”™s Stern School of Business and a bachelor”™s degree in accounting from The Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining Atlas Air, he was employed for more than 12 years by MasterCard Inc. He is a member of the board of directors of Junior Achievement of the Hudson Valley.

Lew Tischler is CFO of Symbio Technologies in New Rochelle. As the CFO of the provider of high-technology security equipment, he has established relationships and selling programs with many of the major contractors doing business with the federal government, created alternative and renewable streams of revenues and successfully increased gross profit margins across the board. He has been recognized for his efforts in creating an export market resulting in Symbio-branded products being shipped around the world. An avid gardener, he also builds furniture and plays the piano.