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CFO and Secretary | The Ford Meter Box Co. Inc.
Gary Larson handles accounting and financial reporting, treasury operations, risk management and internal audits for Wabash-based Ford Meter Box Co., which manufactures waterworks products.
Major achievements: Under Larson’s watch, Ford Meter Box has developed and implemented an enterprise risk management model, enhanced its mergers and acquisitions ability, and maintained a focus on selling, general and administrative expenses.
Challenge overcome: Due to industry demand and the need for modernization and automation, Ford Meter Box announced the largest project in company history: a brass foundry to be built in Wabash. The company also announced a major building project at its Pell City, Alabama, location to house the manufacturing operations of a recent acquisition. “Developing robust financial models to show proof of concept, obtaining financing, negotiating local and state incentives and acquiring the necessary land kept us busy for many months,” Larson said. “It was a true team effort on the part of the company and key external advisors.”
Career path: Larson’s high school in small-town Iowa offered two semesters of bookkeeping. He took both, and “the subject matter came so easy to me I barely had to read the book.” He majored in accounting in college, passed the CPA exam after graduation and spent the next seven years working for Price Waterhouse in New Orleans and St. Louis. After leaving public accounting, he spent 15 years in increasingly responsible financial positions with an aerospace/industrial company, Sundstrand Corp., and its acquirer, United Technologies. He moved from there to Hillenbrand Industries. When Hill-Rom and Batesville Casket split into separate publicly traded companies, he moved on and spent the next seven years as a segment CFO for Dover Corp. in Cincinnati and later suburban Chicago. He found out about Ford Meter Box through a retired Dover contact.
Community involvement: treasurer, Grow Wabash County; member, Wabash County Community Foundation investment committee; treasurer, Honeywell Public Golf Course Foundation; board member, Indiana Manufacturers Association•
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