Over the past 28 years, Tom has gained diverse financial and operational experience in the manufacturing and distribution industry. Throughout his career, he has developed a detailed and wide-ranging degree of knowledge with various stakeholders, which has enabled him to understand the overall operational and financial business needs, and refine and streamline processes and procedures.

A native from Louisiana, he graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1989 with a BS in Mathematics and a minor in Health and Coaching. In December 1992, he completed an 18 month CPA preparation program through Louisiana State University while working for Spectrum Metals, Inc., a medium-sized distributor of metal products with 10 offices in the United States. In May of 1993, he passed all 4 parts of the Uniform CPA exam in his first attempt.

Before starting Achieve Business Management Consulting, LLC, Tom worked for The Shaw Group Inc. in the Fabrication and Manufacturing Division for almost 19 years, serving in varying capacities. The Shaw Group was a Fortune 500 company based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana which was acquired by another Fortune 500 company, Chicago Bridge and Iron (CBI) in February of 2013. Shaw had sales totaling $6.9 billion and was a leading global provider of services to the power, process, and environmental and infrastructure industries.

In October of 1994, Tom joined The Shaw Group, Inc. in its Baton Rouge, LA corporate office. In his more than 18 years with Shaw, Tom has held positions of increasing responsibility. From October 1994 – Dec 1995 Tom served as an Assistant Corporate Controller, and from 1996 – 1998 he served as the Controller of one of Shaw’s largest pipe fabrication facilities in South Carolina.

As Shaw’s business continued to grow, Tom served as a Vice President and Divisional CFO of the Fabrication and Manufacturing Group (F&M), one of 4 operating divisions within The Shaw Group, Inc. from 1998 - 2008. Tom’s financial and operational strengths were integral in the growth of the F&M Group. He led due diligence teams and negotiated purchase contracts for 4 strategic acquisitions during his tenure as CFO. Those acquisitions included a pipe fabricator in Virginia with a +$4M purchase price, a structural steel fabricator in Louisiana with a +$7M purchase price, a pipe fabricator in Arkansas with a +$10M purchase price, and a manufacturer and distributor of metal products in New Jersey with a +$4M purchase price.

He also was one of the leaders in the establishment of a startup Maquiladora designated pipe and structural steel facility in Mexico with assets of $32M, as well as a fabrication Joint Venture in China. Tom has also served on the board of directors for a joint venture in the Middle East, as well as an employer representative of a multi-employer Union Pension plan.

In 2008, he was promoted to Sr. Vice President of Business Operations for the F&M Group, where he oversaw the groups Pricing and Billing, Legal, Contracts, Human Resources and Environmental, Health and Safety Departments. He was also the Executive Sponsor for a $180M government contract being executed at two of Shaw’s fabrication plants

In December of 2014, Tom joined EPIC Piping, LLC as its CFO. Formed as a start up in December of 2014, EPIC Piping is one of the fastest growing turn-key pipe fabrication organizations in the world. With facilities in San Marcos, TX, Baton Rouge, LA and Livingston, LA, EPIC has more than 600,000 square feet of total fabrication capacity and grew to more than 450 employees in its first 18 months of operations.
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Tom’s more than 28 years of financial accounting and mergers and acquisitions experience helped shape EPIC’s financial reporting structure and financial growth model. While at EPIC, Tom developed the company’s 5-year strategic business plan, vetted and assisted in the implementation the company’s ERP system (JD Edwards), established major policies and procedures for accounting and purchasing controls, developed standard reports for internal use and for its external stakeholders, developed and implemented a general ledger and cost accounting structure, negotiated and finalized a $90M line of credit ($50M ABL, $20M Construction Loan and 2-$10M Equipment loans) with a consortium of Banks, and he successfully lead the company through its first year-end 2015 external audit completed by KPMG, LLC.

Along with his wife of 30 years and 3 sons, Tom has lived in the Greenville, South Carolina area for the last 28 years. During his free time, Tom enjoys fly-fishing and competing in Ironman races, local triathlons, duathlons and road races.

On behalf of United Against Slavery leadership and the Board of Directors, we are forever thankful for the time that Tom served as our CFO through the beginning of 2023. Your contributions have been immeasurable, Tom! Thank you.