Clearwater Beach, Fla. — Shane O'Keeffe of Mergon Group is the winner of the Plastics News 2024 Chief Financial Officer of the Year award.
Mergon Group is an Ireland-based injection and blow molder with U.S. operations in Anderson, S.C.
O'Keeffe has been executive director and CFO since September 2020.
"Obviously I've got a functional leadership role, but I like to see my role as a business partner and adviser to the CEO and hopefully a source of reassurance to the board when they need it.
"That's the role I enjoy, and being in finance can be a great opportunity to be close to the action," O'Keeffe said in a March 13 panel discussion at the PN Executive Forum in Clearwater Beach.
Mergon has more than 1,100 employees at plants in five countries. It serves automotive, industrial and health care customers.
Asked about the biggest challenge that CFOs face today, O'Keeffe talked about a few.
"From my perspective, it's about execution. So there's a number of things that factor into that. We've got a growth profile ahead of us and, and [we need to] make sure we execute that as well as possible.
"So all things factored into that: labor, having the right people, external factors, making sure you handle issues that customers throw at you and some of the more macroeconomic challenges. … I think at the moment we seem to be in a fairly steady position compared to the previous two or three years," he said. "Prices have stabilized. Energy costs have stabilized and the labor markets have been more stable.
"I'm not saying it's easy, but it's a bit more predictable. So for us, it's focusing on execution," he said.
The winner was announced March 13 at the Executive Forum in Clearwater Beach.
