The CFO'S Perspective

Case Study: Holmberg Mechanical

info@cfoselections.com (CFO Selections Team) — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 23:55:13 GMT

The Long View: Our 17-Year Partnership with Holmberg Mechanical

Walk into Holmberg Mechanical’s Bellevue headquarters and you immediately sense momentum. The building is only a few years old — all glass, steel, and possibility — but what really animates the space is the feeling that this is a business looking ahead, not backward.

Jeff White bought Holmberg Mechanical in 2006, when it was a small, family-owned plumbing company with just 12 employees and a primarily public-sector footprint. He stepped into his new role with a bold vision for the future — but also, by his own admission, some significant gaps in financial leadership. “I was the everything man,” he recalls. “I was the tip of the spear on sales, I was operations, and I was newly part of the back-of-house work. A lot of it was new to me.”

Jeff knew the business needed more sophisticated financial guidance than he could provide alone. On the recommendation of his Vistage chair, he met with CFO Selections’ Kevin Briscoe — a meeting that would mark the beginning of a 17-year partnership.

Capital gains in Washington state: The human decisions behind the numbers

jgirard@cfoselections.com (Jen Girard) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Capital gains planning is more than a conversation about taxes. It’s about identity, family, legacy, tradeoffs and non-negotiables. It’s about guarding your pocketbook, but also protecting your heart.

The state of Washington’s decision to increase the capital gains tax in 2025 could force many business owners contemplating a sale to confront the deeply emotional, human questions tied up with their financial decisions. With a 9.9% state capital gains tax layered on top of federal taxes, a business owner’s total tax burden can exceed 30%. That’s often when owners realize navigating this alone could be a costly mistake. Your best bet at making the right decision is to surround yourself with the right experts. The ones who know it’s not just about the numbers, but what matters most to you.

We talked with four seasoned advisors, three tax attorneys and a CPA, who understand that behind every transaction is a person making a critical, once-in-a-lifetime, decision. They see their role as not simply technical but relational. They are guides, leading clients through the thickets, around the quicksand, and on to safer ground.

People Behind the Numbers: Meet Patrick Monaghan

kbriscoe@cfoselections.com (Kevin Briscoe) — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 13:00:02 GMT

At CFO Selections, we may work in numbers… but we’re in the business of people. Because behind every financial report is a person making hard decisions, and behind every engagement is a human-to-human connection. In this series, we’re shining a light on those stories — introducing the consultants who guide our clients forward and the leaders who bring those numbers to life.

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Pat Monaghan will tell you that the highlight of his accounting and finance career isn’t where he’s worked, but who he’s worked with along the way.

Getting to know the people behind the operation

On a typical day at Lighthouse for the Blind in Fort Worth, Patrick Monaghan could walk through the manufacturing floor and find himself in conversations that had nothing to do with accounting. “I’d talk with the workers, get to know them and their personalities,” he says. “And enjoy the great sense of humor they brought to their work.” Patrick wasn’t just a finance leader moving through a cost center. He was part of a community. This moment says more about Patrick’s career than any job title could.

For more than three decades, finance has been his way of showing up for people: students, parents, faculty, adoptive families, volunteers, blind workers, attorneys, and nonprofit boards. He manages budgets, sure. But his real work lives in the relationships he builds.

The People Behind the Numbers: Meet Carrie Mygatt

jgirard@cfoselections.com (Jen Girard) — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 13:00:00 GMT

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Connecting the Dots

After more than 35 years in finance, Carrie Mygatt knows how to see the whole picture. “I’ve worked across finance, procurement, IT, HR, and operations,” she says. “The key is to connect the dots between what’s happening in the business and the financial impact.”

The People Behind the Numbers: Meet Rebecca Alderfer

Scott Fowle — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 12:59:59 GMT

When Connection Is the Strategy

Ask Rebecca Alderfer what she loves most about her role, and she doesn’t mention policy (even after two decades working at the intersection of strategy, social impact, and public policy). What lights her up is connection, forging new partnerships, linking strategies across silos, and aligning people around shared goals.

“It’s really that chessboard,” Rebecca says. “How can we all support each other? Where can we leverage resources and opportunities that already exist? How do we grow the platform together, so that everyone benefits?”

That mindset has defined her career from the White House to the frontlines of maternal health in Colorado. As CEO of the Colorado Perinatal Care Quality Collaborative (CPCQC), she’s no longer advising from the sidelines. She’s leading the charge, helping the organization grow from a startup into a statewide force for improving maternal and infant health.