Rocky Chernow
Rsum and Curriculum Vitae
Education, Professional Registration and Industry Organizations
California State University Chico, B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering (ABET accredited), 1986 with recognition for academic excellence.
Butte Community College: Associates Degree in Liberal Arts, 1972 with recognition for academic excellence.
EIT level Engineering Registration in California license number XE066650
Member of the Society of Professional Engineers of Papua New Guinea with Professional Engineering Registration
President Dresser Dealer Council of North America 1994
President Utah Association of Equipment Distributors (AED) 1997
President Blaw Knox Dealer Council (two terms) 1996 and 1997
Member Hitachi Dealer Council 1995 and 1996 (representing mining products)
Member Volvo Dealer Council (two terms) 1996 and 1997
Member Liebherr Dealer Advisory Board 2000
Member Wildcat Dealer Advisory Board 2009
Member ORIAG (Off Road Implementation Advisory Group) for California Air Resource Board (CARB) 2009
Chronological Work History
August 2005- August 2009
Vermeer Pacific
Recruited after a national search and hired following two days of testing and profiling by RMS McGladrey as General Manager Southern California. This position carries full P&L and balance sheet responsibilities for three locations of full service Vermeer dealerships. During my tenure this operation has shown consistent increases in market share in a declining market while maintaining profitability at each location. We opened a new location in Rancho Dominguez which has been profitable from day one. We have also been awarded Platinum Dealer status, Vermeers highest level, for two out of three years.
January 2004-August 2005
Transit Sales International
TSI is a leading organization in sales and leasing of mass transit equipment (city buses and trolleys). As Vice President of Sales, I was in charge of seeking out new International clientele and growing our relationship with government and military customers. In my first year I secured a $3.8M, 48 month contract with the US Army. I developed a transit equipment refurbishment program in co-operation with the Federal Transit Administration to aid developing nations in training technicians while improving the standards of local public transportation.
2002-2003
Pacific Utility Equipment Company
Vice President & General Manager at Pacific Utility, an $80M 12 branch group of Terex owned factory stores involved in final stage manufacturing, sales and support of products focused upon the Utility, Municipality and Tree Trimming industries. My challenge was to bring a recently acquired family owned distribution business into line with the expectations of a publicly traded manufacturer. During my tenure Pacific Utility made substantial market share gains in key West Coast target markets.
2001-2002
Construction Machinery, Inc.
Senior Vice President for Construction Machinery Inc. with direct report responsibility over 235 employees in eleven branches. This position was part of a four-man turnaround team challenged with returning CMI to profitability. During our less than one-year management tenure, inventory was reduced by half, expenses were cut, Branch Management was recruited or reorganized, gross margins were improved and marketshare was maintained or improved for our primary product lines. These substantial improvements contributed to the parent company being in a position to sell CMI. It was broken up and spun off into five small increments.
1998-2001
L.B. Smith, Inc.
Vice President for Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C. and Southern Delaware. Within one year same store sales more than doubled and pretax profits increased over fivefold. All branches within the region finished the year profitably for the first time. Two new start-up branches opened and an acquisition (Wilbar & Arnold) was completed expanding the region from three branches to seven. By the end of fiscal 2000, the region sales had increased 258% and profitability had increased 590%. We were named the top dealer in the world for TEREX, top dealer in NAFTA for Liebherr and the number 2 dealer in the USA for JCB.
1993-1998
Arnold Machinery Company
Vice President and General Manager of the Construction and Mining Equipment Division of Arnold Machinery following an extensive international recruitment search by Jordan Sitter Associates. In 1994, my portfolio was expanded to include Arnolds Arizona operations. When I assumed this position the owner gave me two challenges: break out of the mid $50 million rut in which the division was mired, and unleash the potential of the divisions 135 associates. Within four years the division sales increased by 76%, net pretax profits increased by 80%, sales per employee increased by 41% and gross margin per employee increased by 30%. Arnold dominated the gold mining industry in hydraulic mining shovel sales, but I also integrated a more diversified product range by reaching a contract to represent DitchWitch in four western states.
1974 to 1993
Morgan Equipment Company, San Francisco, California
1974-From an initial position as a Parts Correspondent in the corporate headquarters in San Francisco, promoted to establish and manage a small parts and service operation in Fairbanks, Alaska supporting a fleet of equipment supplied by Morgan Equipment to the Alyeska Pipeline Project.
1975-Transfer to New Orleans, Louisiana to establish and manage a parts exporting facility over a staff of five.
1976-Promoted to head office (San Francisco) in the equipment sales department as Inside Sales Coordinator and Assistant to the Sales Manager. After 12 months, became a Territory Salesman in N. California.
1977-Requested and received assignment to a sales position in Morgans Saudi Arabia. Promoted after 11 months to National Sales Manager. This operation entailed 3 full service branches employing 65 people. Morgan represented John Deere (construction), P&H, Euclid, Sullair, Cedarapids and CMI LoadKing.
1980-Assigned to Morgans International Division as Resident Manager in Houston, Texas. Working alone from an in-home office, generated $4 million in sales to international contractors within 18 months.
1982- Taking a leave of absence, returned to college to earn a degree in Mechanical Engineering. In May 1986 graduated with a B.Sc. having completed senior level elective work in contracts, technical writing, computer science, machine design and advanced material science.
1986-Upon graduation, returned to Morgan Equipment as Branch Manager at the Ok Tedi Copper and Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea. With a staff of twenty-eight, assumed overall responsibilities for administration, sales, inventory, parts, service and budgeting. Annual sales during my first year exceeded a record $13 million. Morgan sold and supported the worlds 2nd largest Komatsu mining equipment fleet.
1987-Promoted to corporate level as Special Projects Manager, based in Cairns Australia with responsibilities for developing offshore business
1988-Promoted to National Sales Manager for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. With annual sales of $30 million and 250 employees, Morgan represented Komatsu, P&H, Euclid, Hyster, JCB, Mack, Demag and Stihl.
1989-Promoted to Managing Director of Morgan Equipment Pty Ltd, Morgan Equipment Solomon Islands, and South Pacific Machinery (an agricultural and industrial supply subsidiary). Elected to the Board of Directors of HydraChrome, an industrial hard chroming operation. This position as Managing Director supplemented my sales and marketing background with comprehensive management experience at the corporate level.
I assumed overall responsibility for these companies at a time of violent insurgency on Bougainville Island. Bougainville was home of our corporate headquarters and our largest customer, Bougainville Copper. All corporate records and our mainframe computer were lost to the rebel forces along with millions of dollars in inventory and other assets. I began this job without the benefit of current financial statements nor any inventory control system. Five senior managers had left the country within a few months of each other. The company and the country were in chaos. All records and a new computer system had to be recreated on the mainland. The company cash flow was decimated and credit lines were being drastically reduced or withdrawn by understandably nervous financial institutions. The company write-offs in 1990 exceeded the retained earnings. Within two and a half years, the company had returned to profitability and had attained Komatsus highest market share outside Japan. This was accomplished through redirection of our market focus from mining to logging. Late in 1992, I sought out and secured an overseas buyer for Morgans South Pacific operations due to the owners failing health.
|
