Cliff Gjertson

About Cliff Gjertson

Executive leader with a track record of consistent success achieving profitable divisional and business unit revenue and market share growth. Continually recruited to transform struggling companies back into profitability.Talented at identifying and developing untapped opportunities and responding quickly to market shifts to achieve long-term business objectives. Optimizes operational performance, builds teams and supply chains positioned for growth, and catalyzes continuous improvements by implementing scalable and repeatable processes. Respected for addressing cost issues head-on, strengthening productivity, and accelerating profit at challenged operations, while effectively managing the change implications to people and processes. Possesses a strong ability to influence key stakeholders by making data-driven recommendations and utilizing a collaborative and intuitive leadership approach. Value Delivered: Divisional Sales & Marketing Leadership Established and directed sales and marketing teams across multiple business units in US, Canada, China, and Mexico. Customer-Centric Focus Improved operations and reestablished customer trust at Advance Aero Inc. by accelerating on time deliveries from 42% to 93% and reducing production time to 13 days. Revenue & Profit Growth – Led sales teams to achieve 45% revenue growth over 2 years at TrueNorth Steel, 37% at Omni Technologies, and 25% at Miller Logistics, with corresponding increases in net profit. New Business Development – Led development of new markets and products for TrueNorth Steel’s Structural and Tank business units. Developed Strategic Alliances – Identified value-added partnerships with construction companies, architectural firms, distributors, and independent sales agencies, generating $400K new sales at Dallman Industries.

Experience

1. Executive Vice President

   Advance Aero Inc

   Feb 2019 — Present · Indianapolis, IN, US

   Recruited to manage day-to-day operations of the FAA Certified Part 145 repair station. Brought in to restore order amidst organizational turmoil, improve employee morale, and reset business strategy. Assumed responsibility for sales department in 09/2019. Holds full P&L accountability within organization. Cut lead time from 43 to 13 days, improved on time delivery to 94%. Reduced turnover from 43% to 7.41%. Retained earnings improved from negative $1.15M in 2019 to a positive result by 2023. Created sales team in 2020 generating new customers in across the US, and Latin America. Invested in additional capacity for the machine shop and sheet metal fabrication shop. Improved EBITDA by more than 300%. Capx grew from $0 to more than $1M.

Education

• Purdue University Daniels School of Business

  MBA, Business Administration

• Indiana University Indianapolis

  Bachelor of Science, Business Administration

Skills

• Operations Management
• Developing New Markets
• Customer Service
• Safety Culture
• International Sales
• Organizational Leadership
• Resource Management
• Marketing
• New Market Expansion
• Manufacturing
• Influential Communicator
• Key Account Management
• Influential Leadership
• Cost Containment
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Contract Negotiation
• Marketing Strategy
• New Business Development
• Team Building
• Management
• Marketing Plan Creation
• Account Management
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Change Management
• Sales
• Enterprise Resource Planning (Erp)
• Sales Strategies
• Safety
• Market Planning
• Budgets
• Sales Process
• Strategy
• Salesforce.com
• Budgeting
• Negotiation
• Product Marketing
• Development & Implementation of Marketing Plans
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• Sales Management
• Business Development