Five Orange County CFOs Honored at Annual Awards

Financial professionals and guests gathered at the Orange County Business Journal’s CFO of the Year Awards on Wednesday, February 4 in Irvine to honor this year’s nominees and recipients. Century Group proudly sponsors the event each year to honor area financial professionals who have shown the highest level of talent and commitment as corporate stewards for their respective companies in the preceding fiscal year. The awards went to Sunstone Hotel Investors’ Bryan Giglia, Outstanding CFO of a Public Company; Vizio’s Kurt Binder, Outstanding CFO of a Private Company; Discovery Cube’s Mike McGee, Outstanding CFO of a Not-for-Profit Organization; Razor USA’s Larry Rosolowski, Lifetime Achievement Award; Incipio Technologies’ Ann Fong, Rising Star. The awards committee selected this year’s winners from 42 finalists, all nominated for the award by colleagues in the profession. Each of the nominees were said to have certain attributes, including the ability to successfully promote and support excellence as a CFO; establish procedures; set an example of ethical behavior; act as a team-builder, mentor and innovator; and contribute to the advancement of the industry and community.

Winners Bryan Giglia, Mike McGee, Ann Fong, Larry Rosolowski and Christine Binder, who accepted the award for her husband (Photo by Laurel Hungerford Photography)

Each winner’s speech, while different, had a common theme – they shared their awards with their teams and expressed gratitude to those behind them for their support. In addition to honoring his “incredible team at Vizio,” honoree Kurt Binder – who was traveling for business and delivered his acceptance speech remotely – gave a special shout out to the individual who nominated him for this honor: Tim Calley, Managing Director of Century Group’s Orange County Office.

“It was an honor to nominate Kurt Binder for the award,” Calley said. “I’ve known Kurt since he was a partner with Ernst & Young, focusing on pre-IPO and publicly-traded companies in the technology and medical device space, and he has really flourished in his role with VIZIO. He has led their accounting and finance team through a period of tremendous growth, as well as cost-effectively managing some of the world’s largest suppliers and retailers, all the while maintaining or increasing margins throughout the process. VIZIO is fortunate to have Kurt Binder as their CFO, and Orange County is proud to have Kurt as a CFO in our market.”

Calley described the awards as one of the premier events in the Orange County business community. “Century Group’s professionals, guests, business partners and clients look forward to this evening every year – and this year’s event didn’t disappoint. As we celebrated five new winners, we had the opportunity to spend time with the financial leaders from many of the nation’s ‘A-List’ companies. We are looking forward to participating again next year.”

More details and photos from the event can be found online. You can also read a profile on each honoree in the February 16 issue of the Orange County Business Journal.