Chief Financial Officer
Publishers Circulation Fulfillment (PCF)
Towson, MD
If it weren’t for a school requirement, Thomas Foard probably wouldn’t have become a CPA. “In business school, they required that every student take an accounting course,” he says. “If they hadn’t made it a requirement, I’m not sure I ever would have chosen accounting.”
But he’s glad he did, because he says becoming a CPA opens so many doors. “You can work in regional firms or the ‘Big 4’,” he says. “You can work for yourself. You can work on the business side for public and private companies, and now there are a lot of great new opportunities in government.”
Thomas knows a thing or two about opening doors. After eighteen years as a CPA, he’s gone to work for companies as diverse as Burlington Industries (a textiles company), a major chemical company and Maryland Baseball – a company that owned minor league affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles.
Today he’s the CFO of PCF, the company that handles the delivery of newspapers ranging from The Wall Street Journal and USA Today to The New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle, to name a few. “I enjoy the teamwork with our leadership team - we are focused on improving the business and we are very much aligned to the vision our CEO has for our company.”In this job, he doesn’t just get a front-row seat to big business decisions – he helps make them.
That’s what gets him excited to come to work every day. “I love the dynamic nature of the business,” he says. “It’s never a dull moment.”
Years as a CPA: 21
Hobbies outside of work: Tennis, golf