Concordia Seminary [1], St. Louis’ Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration/Chief Financial Officer Chad Cattoor is a winner of the St. Louis Business Journal’s [2] 2016 “CFO of the Year” award.
Cattoor is one of 13 winners in the St. Louis area. The awards span a variety of businesses, including technology, health care, financial services, retail, as well as nonprofits. Cattoor was named one of three nonprofit winners.
“It’s humbling to be included in this year’s class of honorees but the award speaks to a number of talented individuals that I have the privilege to work with every single day,” Cattoor said. “I can’t imagine working anywhere else and I feel very fortunate to play a role in fulfilling the Seminary’s mission.
“And to be completely fair, the Seminary’s current financial condition is a result of a lot of hard work and sound financial decisions that were accomplished prior to me stepping into the role of CFO in July 2013,” he said. “You have to give a lot of credit to my predecessor, Michael Louis (Concordia Seminary’s Chief Operating Officer), for creating the roadmap for financial stability and fiscal viability.”
In the Seminary’s 2015 accreditation reports from the Higher Learning Commission and the Association of Theological Schools, the Seminary, a 177-year-old theological graduate school with a current enrollment of about 600 students, was lauded for weathering the recession and for its overall financial health. The Seminary’s 2015 revenue totaled $22 million (unrestricted) with projections for this year at $24 million.
“I’m thankful that Chad has been recognized for his work as our CFO,” Louis said. “Not only is he skilled within his professional discipline, he also has many complimentary skills that add to his effectiveness. The honor of this award goes to Chad, but the benefits of his work accrue to Concordia Seminary.”
Cattoor is a 1997 graduate of Fontbonne University with a degree in finance and accounting. Before coming to the Seminary, Cattoor spent eight years with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) performing financial and operational audits, which provided him an understanding of how businesses work from the top down. A CPA, he was initially hired in 2006 as the Seminary’s Manager of Accounting and shortly thereafter was promoted to Controller.
The May 13 issue of the Business Journal will have articles on each honoree. The CFO of the Year banquet will be held May 19 at the Coronado, 3701 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, Mo.
About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) [3]. To learn more, visit www.csl.edu [1].