Edward J. Ogorzaly has been named chief financial officer of Clear Height Properties. The announcement was made by the firm’s co-owners, Dominic Sergi, president and chief executive officer, and Joe M. Sergi, chief operations officer. Ogorzaly, brings more than 30 years of diversified and dynamic experience to his new position at the firm.
“Clear Height Properties continues to grow and expand—adding staff, capabilities and new investors while evolving and further refining our investment strategies,” said Dominic Sergi. “Ed Ogorzaly will be a valuable addition and a driving force as we digest the current climate and look to emerge stronger and more diversified than ever.”
According to Joe Sergi, among the critical skillsets a CFO needs to bring to the table in 2020 include experience and active participation in every area of the business decision-making process, from revenue generation to marketing to operations. He said this necessitates complementary skill sets in strategic planning, technology and people management.
“The days of simply staying ‘inside the lines’ of accounting, finance, tax and treasury are gone,” Ogorzaly said. “The CFO is evolving to a true business partner with experiences in all these areas while maintaining expertise in the traditional areas.”
For the last several years, Ogorzaly has served as a consultant with CFO Simplified, guiding several companies as functional CEO and CFO, and in a private equity turnaround.
Prior to his consulting and private equity experiences, he spent 18+ years in retail, distributin and manufacturing with Blick Art Materials where he co-lead revenue growth from $57 million to $320 million and 10 times EBITDA improvement. For the last nine years he was president of retail subsidiaries having full P&L responsibilities. He led internal and M&A growth from $17 million to $150 million and an 11 percent increase in annual EBITDA.
Ogorzaly holds a B.S. degree in accounting from Canisius College, is a Certified Public Accountant, and member of the AICPA. Currently, he is a board advisory consultant for Blick Art Materials, The Chicago Corporation, Anzu Energy and Vantage Point Corp., and former advisor and board member of six other different companies while leading finance and site/build committees. He is actively involved in various charitable organizations, participating annually in 41&9 Foundation “Cycle for a Cure” and Cal’s Angels events.
