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 now 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 we have two little boys and live in Plainfield. I have two older kids as well, boy and girl who both just graduated from NIU in May 2022 in Communications and Accounting, respectively. My daughter is currently pursuing her master’s so she can sit for the CPA. She has a job lined up with Miller Cooper (CPA firm). My son is working 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 32 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 ten years have been in manufacturing and management consulting. Ten 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 in the Management Resources division (the consulting arm of RH) as a Client Service Director. I did very well in my first year and 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 landed the top Finance/Accounting role at C. Cretors and Company, where I currently work as the CFO. In addition to Accounting and 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 over 135 years old and is a fifth-generation family-owned business. Cretors patented the first commercial popcorn machine in 1893. A Global company with a family culture and illustrious history with the Employees as their top priority.