2009 CFO of the year financial champions.

• Author: Ryther-Francom, Sarah
• Position: Company overview

With a struggling national and local economy, today's CFOs play an increasingly vital role in securing a corporation's future. Our CFO of the Year award recipients take on that challenging role and go beyond it, working side-by-side their CEOs to ensure their company's short-term and long-term success. Though our honorees' careers have directed them across diverse paths--some beginning with large accounting firms, others putting down roots in the public or nonprofit sector--one thing is clear: the day of the back office bean counter is long gone.

Private - Small

Blake Wright

Architectural Design West, P.C.

When Blake Wright was hired for his first summer job at age 16 at Architectural Design West, little did he know he'd one day be leading the 117-year-old company. After receiving his MBA from Utah State University, Wright joined Design West in 1992 to head its landscape architecture department. After proving his determination to see the company succeed, Wright was named CFO in 2001--a time when the company was going through severe hardship.

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Upon his appointment as CFO, Wright took the company from years of revenue drops to revenue increases of more than 120 percent from 2004 to 2008, with a 42 percent increase during 2008 alone. In addition, the company's overhead rate was 15 percent less in 2008 than it was prior to 2003.

"My appreciation of Design West's legacy and heritage and a drive to see it continue for at least another 120 years gets me out of bed most mornings," he says.

Private - Small

Morgan Brown

Lifetree Clinical Research

Morgan Brown led Salt Lake-based Lifetree Clinical Research to experience 40 percent growth during 2008, a time when similar companies were hitting the brakes. As CFO, Brown strives to play a leading role in the company's overall success beyond its financial aspects. "The role of the CFO is more than just that of leading the finance and accounting departments," he says. "Although this is an important aspect of the CFO's role, it is almost expected that the CFO be an expert here, and contribute in other ways to the success of the company. The CFO ... is responsible for the strategic and operational direction of the company."

Brown says much of his success as CFO is the relationship he maintains with Lifetree's CEO, Alice Jackson. "The CFO should be the 'right hand' of the CEO and support the position and initiatives brought forward by the CEO," he says.

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Private - Small

Reyn Gallacher | Amedica

With more than 20 years of financial experience in both public and private companies, Amedica's Reyn Gallacher says key to his success is the ability to adapt to changes in the market. "You have to understand what is going on in the marketplace and be able to spot those changes as they are occurring," he says. "While overseeing all financial aspects of a company is still a critical aspect of a CFO's role, today's CFO must also be a business strategist in guiding the company's direction."

Gallacher's take-charge attitude has equaled success for Amedica, according to Ashok Khandkar, the company's CEO and president. "In the current economic climate, it is natural that business leaders and CFOs in particular, are less optimistic. Reyn is an outlier amongst his peers. With due credit to Reyn's stewardship of our company's cash and general operating management skills, Amedica is bucking the trend ... sales have grown steadily at over 50 percent month over month," Khandkar says.

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Private - Medium

Ben Henderson | CLEARLINK

Ben Henderson, CFO and in-house counsel for CLEARLINK, says the challenging times he's experienced have led to his, and CLEARLINK's, success. "As many young companies...