Ronald Gozum

I was born in Manila, Philippines and came to the United States when I was just five years old. My parents were immigrants. I have two brothers. My parents worked extremely hard to support the family. We lived in Chicago for a few years and later moved to Lombard, IL where I spent most of my childhood. My Father, who is a CPA, started at a small CPA firm, S.F Firestone, which is now Wippman, Gozum & Goldberg, where my Father is a Partner. My Mother worked for one company, Newark Electronics, as a Cost Analyst. My brothers and I are CPAs, and we all went to NIU. I am married and have two young boys and live in Plainfield. I have two older kids as well, boy and girl who both graduated from NIU in May 2022 in Communications and Accounting, respectively. My daughter has her Master’s degree in MIS and is pursuing her CPA. She works Cohen & Company, a CPA firm. My son works for Main Freight as an Account Manager. I graduated from NIU in 1989 and started my career at a Big 8 public accounting firm. I have over 35 years of diverse Accounting and Finance experience and worked as a President, CFO, Controller, Auditor, and FP&A Manager in the public accounting, manufacturing, telecom, mortgage banking, real estate, and management consulting space with companies such as Arthur Andersen, Southwestern Bell, TravelClick, Robert Half, and C. Cretors and Company.

My last 13 years have been in manufacturing and management consulting. Thirteen years ago, Finance and Accounting management roles were scarce as a result of the mortgage and real estate debacle which caused the Great Recession. In 2011, I took a role at Robert Half Management Resources (the consulting arm of RH) as a Client Service Director. In my first year, I was promoted to Division Director. While at Robert Half, a client offered me a Controller role and I accepted. The company was Automated Industrial Machinery, manufacturer of heavy CNC wire-forming machinery, the pioneers of wire-forming machinery. I held the top finance position, performing all the functions of a CFO and Controller. After four years, the company moved their operations to Florida. In mid-2018, I took a role as the President of Marco & Associates, a reputable boutique executive search and consulting firm. It was a personal growth experience for me because it helped me hone my executive leadership and communication skills at the highest level. This was the first time I ran a whole operation. I wore multiple hats. After a year, I had the desire to return to Corporate Accounting/Finance and secured the top Finance/Accounting role at C. Cretors and Company, where I am the CFO. Accounting, Finance, HR, and IT are under my purview. Cretors is the premiere manufacturer of popcorn machinery and equipment for commercial and industrial use. Cretors also makes small concession equipment like hot dog grills and pizza warmers. Cretors has a remarkable story. It is close to 140 years old and is a fifth-generation family-owned business. Cretors patented the first commercial popcorn machine in 1893, serves over 150 countries and boasts over 80 unique patents and 100% “manufactured in the USA”. A Global company with an illustrious history and family culture with the Employees as their top priority.