Company: Blue River PetCare, Chicago IL
Nomination Submitted by: Rothfeld Consulting
Company Description: Blue River PetCare is a founder-led organization fully committed to the success of veterinary practices, their people, and most importantly, the patients served and those who love them. Its mission is to provide a long-term home for veterinary practices to continue to grow and thrive and a welcoming environment that encourages growth and development for team members across the country.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Woman of the Year - Accounting & Finance
 Nomination Title: Amy Ward, Chief Financial Officer
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2022 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 200 words used.
Amy is the Chief Financial Officer of Blue River PetCare (BRP), a founder-led organization fully committed to the success of veterinary practices, their people, and the patients served and those who love them. Ward has held various positions during her almost decade-long tenure at Blue River, including the development and management of the Finance, FP&A and Payroll teams at BRP, as well as the processes used today to provide in-depth financial support to ~200 hospitals across the organization. As a young female leader, Ward is passionate about supporting the next generation of female leaders in finance and beyond and fostering a positive and connected company culture that allows people to be their best.
Amy began her career at KMPG in the audit practice before joining Blue River as a CPA in 2015. Upon joining, BRP was still in its infancy with only 17 veterinary clinics, giving her ample opportunity to learn from top leaders and help create a bright future for the company. At only 35 years-old, Amy is committed to using her age as her superpower to evolve from a financial CFO to an operationally focused CFO, encouraging the organization to adopt technology and innovation to better the business.
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2022 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
Amy was promoted to CFO in January 2022. Since then, she has doubled down on driving the business forward though new technology, innovation, and a steadfast commitment to operational excellence. Amy leverages her financial background and tenure at BRP to ensure the company remains both efficient and profitable. Amy’s top achievements include:
Creating Cost Efficiencies: Amy has consistently developed and spearheaded initiatives to identify more cost-effective ways to grow and streamline the business. This includes adopting and implementing new technology platforms, renegotiating contracts, and identifying unique business models to aid with hiring in a difficult labor market, ultimately resulting in close to $1M in annual cost savings.
Formalizing ESG Initiatives: Under Amy’s leadership, BRP created its first-ever carbon reduction plan aimed at reducing the organization’s footprint by 5% over the next five years. Amy is intricately involved in new mandates for construction projects to lay the foundation for long-term savings that also minimize environmental impacts (i.e. auto shut-off lightbulbs, high-efficiency HVAC systems, reduced frequency of supplier shipments, working with vendors to create policies focused on energy savings and climate-friendly products).
FP&A and IT Growth & Transition: After becoming CFO, Amy advocated to bring the FP&A and IT departments under her leadership, allowing for a more holistic view of the organization’s health. Amy has helped the FP&A team grow from one consultant to a full in-house team, creating a meaningful value add to the organization and building a stronger connection between the finance and technology functions within the organization.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 209 words used.
Amy is using her modern approach to finance to help drive the business forward, all while ensuring the company stays true to its values. Under her leadership, Amy has helped to navigate soaring interest rates to ensure steady cash flow and has also secured meaningful debt expansion to continue to grow the business.
While other players in the industry have drastically increased acquisition multiples when purchasing veterinary clinics, Amy and the Blue River team have developed a longer-term growth plan to ensure the financial health of the organization. In a challenging economic and interest rate environment, it has allowed the company to secure debt, remain disciplined (especially during more volatile market conditions) and steadily grow its family of veterinary hospitals.
With this approach, Blue River has grown 20%+ YoY both in 2022 and 2023 and has acquired 40+ hospitals since Amy's tenure as CFO.
While Amy’s day-to-day is focused on finance and profitability, Amy is also passionate about empowering her team and preserving the culture that makes Blue River so special. She finds it her privilege and responsibility to support the success of her team, as well as ensure that all Blue River employees have an opportunity to grow, just as she has during her time at the company.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 68 words used.
The following supporting materials have been uploaded for this nomination:
Carbon Reduction Plan: Under Amy's leadership, Blue River PetCare has committed to reducing its carbon footprint by five percent over the next five years. The attached document outlines this plan that is being spearheaded by Amy.
Leadership Testimonials: This document includes testimonials from Blue River PetCare's leadership team, including Roy Jain (COO) and Tiffany Hanken (Director of Finance).
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