The South Florida Business Journal recently held a roundtable for the chief financiers of firms across a variety of industries in the region.
Up for discussion was how exactly these executives help their companies expand, either through acquisitions or the creation of new products/services.
Gunster’s Chief Operating Officer Steve McDermott was a member of the panel.
Entering new marketplaces can be another way to grow a business, McDermott said, according to Business Journal writer Eleazar David Melendez. McDermott mentioned Gunster’s expansion into both the Tampa and Orlando markets – and the firm’s most recent opening of a new office in the Winter Park area of central Florida.
Read the Business Journal article about the roundtable: CFO Roundtable: Create or acquire? (note: subscription may be required)
According to the article, panelist suggest business executives consider the following when contemplating a particular type of growth: (1) whether a more valuable company will result; (2) what a cost/competence/control analysis tells you; and (3) which stakeholders are meant to benefit from the growth. Company culture and outsourcing opportunities are additional considerations that may also come into play.
Roundtable panelists were:
- Steve McDermott – CFO/COO, Gunster law firm
- Erik Day – CFO, Warren Henry Automotive Group
- Daryl Shevin – CFA/CFO, 13th Floor Investments
- Akbar Sharfi – managing director, Harbinger Investments
- David Tuyo – CFO, Power Financial Credit Union
- Mark Chaves – CPA/partner/International Tax Services leader, Daszkal Bolton
- Lourdes Pineda-Garcia – senior VP of financial services for the southern region, FirstService Residential
- Arthur Levine – CPA/CFO, Sensus Healthcare
