Rivershark Inc

Keeping the company funded, staffed and serviced.

Senior Vice President of Product Development

Cox Media Group

Gerard McLean joined the NIE Department at the Dayton Daily News in 1998 when newspapers were just considering the transition to digital spaces. In addition to revamping the workflow of the various ediucational products for K-12 including a bi-weekly page targeted to the Ohio Proficiency Test, he was responsible for bringing the department and all its content online, building a community and maintaining outreach with educators and students. His contributions over the 4 1/2 yrs at the DDN included various original editorial on a variety of topics from the environment to pizza, in additional to external and internal marketing that promoted the editorial-focused NIE of the DDN. His signature contribution to the DDN was piloting the fledgling daytondailynews.com through Sept 11, 2001.

- Successful implementation of a materials design and production workflow for a Newspapers In Education department.
- Create graphics and support materials to illustrate and facilitate understanding of original reporting by education specialists
- Write, copyedit and develop curriculum-based reporting for NIE pages

Newspapers in Education

SPAR Group

Develop and support programs that integrated technology and human resources for a field-based IC labor force as well as all general staffing needs for the main office.

VP, HR/Technology

Huffy

Create training programs that increased the efficiency and quality of a field-based, decentralized employee workforce.

Training Manager

Target

Sporting goods, Stock Team Supervisor, Housewares, Mensware/Shoes/Luggage/Boys

Area Specialist

If you're doing it right, somebody is talking about you and your company right now on a social network you probably haven't heard about yet. You need a guide. Hire me.

https://rivershark.com

Go there. Have a look around. Drop us a line. We’ll get stuff done.

What?! You want to know more? 

I like you already as you are not one to be content hanging out on the shore, peering at the ocean. You want to dive in, feel the cold splash of life on your skin as your face cranes toward the warmth of the sun. 

Here’s stuff about me. If I’m the kind of person you think would be fun business, then we really should be talking.

This profile space has been left intentionally blank as I ponder a re-write, re-brand and re-launch from the ground up. I promise it will be pithy, almost truthful and mostly, memorable.

You are invited to be connected to me via the LinkedIn algorithms by following me (I don't know how you do that) or requesting a connection (I DO know how you do that!) Every request will be scrutinized thoroughly for the tracking code IFIWEREARICHMAN and the hashtag #TeamYellowPeanutMM to determine your sanity in wanting this dubious honor. No generic requests will be granted; you must personalize the message .... the selection process will be brutal.

You still want more? Are you kidding right now? What do you think I do all day, poop out words? 

Ok, I do kinda do that... sometimes I can even control which end they come out, though there is no guarantee. No, I will not make a car video or a parody of a client call video. I know, I know, they are all the rage but you probably guessed by now that I roll just a little bit to the left and uphill.

Hey, you asked ... Oh, what's that? You DIDN'T ask? Well, now you know. TMI is my game and I know I have already gone on one sentence longer than you can tolerate. Yet, you kept reading. Who is the crazy one now?

Who stole my Wite-out? Just bring it back, no questions asked.

Hey, if you got this far, condolences... but also here is my original headline before LinkedIn decided that 4 characters was enough for everyone... they are wrong, right? 

Author, Copywriter, Word Slinger, Digital Hobo, Roustabout, Publisher. I also CEO at Rivershark Inc and TourneyCentral in my spare time.

In case you are wondering, the hair in my profile photo is the best it is ever going to look. If you want to know more about my hair, I suggest you buy my book, Monkey with a Loaded Typewriter on Amazon. Just do it... go there now... really, wallet out; I need coffee and a haircut.

Gerard McLean

Center for White Rose Studies

*Internationally-known speaker on subject of German resistance during the Shoah. Speaking engagements include 90th anniversary celebration of Alexander Schmorell's life, Orenburg, Russia; Sonoma State University, Yom Ha-Shoah 2003; Women in German conference, Kentucky, 2003; Wittenberg University, Dreyfus conference; 80th anniversary of Willi Graf's death, Munich, Germany, 2023; board meeting for Weisse-Rose-Institut, Munich, 2019; numerous synagogues and schools. -- Known for turning the speech on the audience and asking hard questions.
*Acclaimed writer on the subject of White Rose resistance, informed dissent, civil disobedience.
*Winner of the 2012 Social Media Leadership award, Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for online collaborative "worktables" - a concept we are expanding in 2024-2025.
*Translator of Gestapo interrogation transcripts, used by professors and scholars in the USA, Germany, Australia, the UK, and Japan. Detailed and annotated.
*Creator of database to organize historical research into White Rose resistance. Goal: Subscription-based access for ALL scholars to this database. Online. 2024-2025.

Chair of the Board of Directors, President

Handle day to day operations of small educational nonprofit dedicated to preserving the memories of those who resisted during the Shoah, and talking about the concepts of informed dissent and civil disobedience.

Duties include quarterly newsletter and press releases; archive maintenance; fundraising (grant applications, annual fund campaigns, direct mail); and networking.

Also serve as Chair of the Board of Directors.

Center for White Rose Studies received Wharton Business School's inaugural Social Media Leadership Award (media category, November 2012!

Director

DEHeap Enterprises, Inc.

Primary focus as of 7/1/2023: Building our indie publisher, Exclamation! Publishers, which publishes primary source materials in English translation, histories, anthologies, plays, short stories, and poetry. Although we will (and have) consider publications related to periods outside the Shoah, the heart of our work centers on Holocaust Studies and Holocaust education.

We closely coordinate projects with Center for White Rose Studies, our nonprofit affiliate.

Always looking for good writers, especially for our anthologies, or scholars who are willing to dig past legend to uncover truth.

DEHeap Enterprises also provides translation services (German to English - financial, legal,administrative, HR, immigration, literature except poetry); accounting services (clean-up and special projects only); and process improvement. We take on limited new clients for this work, so we can remain focused on Exclamation! Publishers.

President and CEO

Farheap Solutions

Effective 11/15/19, Geschäftsführerin/Managing Director of Overnight Prints GmbH, Dresden, Germany; and Prokura/Treasurer of PLS print logistic services GmbH, Leipzig, Germany, both wholly-owned subsidiaries of FarHeap. Tasked with bringing processes in line with FarHeap group standards. Converted from Datev accounting software to Microsoft Business Central; integrated inventory and fixed assets into MSBC. Wrote company SOP for GoBD compliance. Together with IT team, documented and enforced compliance.

Worked in German offices for 3 months, cultivating relationships with coworkers, bankers, and major suppliers. Retained new tax CPA and law firm. Evaluated results of Finanzamt audit and implemented corrective measures to ensure conformity to German tax regulations. Negotiated transfer of office lease and sale of furniture, consolidating HQ into single unit. Plans to return, to reinforce relationship with PLS Geschäftsführer put on hold due to Covid travel restrictions.

Spearheaded company-wide conversion to MSBC. Implementation done in-house, $0 CapEx. Together with FarHeap's Business Support Group/IT, managed set-up of all 23 FarHeap entities: Chart of Accounts, Vendors, Customers, posting groups, VAT, inventory, fixed assets, and notes payable. "Super User"/Admin.

Final MSBC projects for Q4-2020 and Q1-2021 include initiating VAT reporting, automation of revenue entries from credit card processors, automation of SEPA and ACH payments from within MSBC, automation of daily inventory usage via FarHeap's proprietary workflow software.

Handed off management of day-to-day accounting to global accounting team. Retained responsibility for financial reporting and analysis, including but not limited to obtaining financing for real estate and equipment purchases, with subsequent reporting requirements.

Corporate Controller, CFO, and Managing Director Overnight Prints GmbH

In addition to Corporate Controller duties outlined below, also took on following responsibilities and projects:

* Oversee PCI compliance for the company's e-Commerce sites. Draft and submit SAQ reports and ensure that quarterly scans are carried out timely.
* Negotiated financing for prime property in Memphis for 67,000 square foot print facility. Closed in less than one month, start to finish. We are set to pay off the $1 million loan in less than five years.
* Centralized purchasing function at Las Vegas headquarters, and implemented processes to prevent fraud and inventory shrinkage. Due to measures I put in place, material costs decreased by over 30%.
* Centralized HR function at Las Vegas headquarters. Enforced approval processes and tightened hiring practices. Developed series of proficiency exams to ensure that skill sets matched resume.
* Managed company growth from seven subsidiaries to fourteen, including acquisition of German sales entity.
* Wrote and defended position paper on the capitalization of software development costs on financial statement basis.
* Currently working with tax CPA to recoup potentially lost R&D tax credits.
* Initiated risk management policies, especially regarding company's intellectual property held in distressed parts of the world.
* Direct and approve product costing and BHR calculations.
* Liase between finance/accounting, production/operations, and marketing, to forecast material and labor needs, provide options for substrates and inks for new products, and return on ad spend.

Corporate Controller and Treasurer

* Manage financial and accounting activities of The Farheap Group. This includes multiple printing facilities, direct mail service provider, multiple E-Commerce retailers, software development, IT company, customer service contractor, and accounting practice, along with subsidiaries in Russia and Germany.
* Initial efforts centered on upgrading inventory management and logistics functions, and implementing processes to increase efficiencies.
* Long-term corporate goals focus on expanding international business, doubling sales annually, reducing debt to $0 within twelve months, and creating reporting system to generate reliable data for management decision-making. We also intend to quadruple accounting staff over the next year so we can handle increased demand for outsourced accounting.
* In 2015, the company embarked on rapid expansion, acquiring or establishing new print facilities strategically placed throughout the United States. We will be opening our first retail print shop in 2016 and will continue to focus on this area of our business over the next 2 - 3 years.
* It is my responsibility to ensure that this rapid expansion is funded almost exclusively on a cash basis, with as little debt as possible. I am also tasked with the financial aspects of our M&A activities, vetting possible acquisitions, analyzing financial statements, researching corporate strengths and weaknesses, and making recommendations directly to the CEO.
* Additionally, we are simultaneously moving to centralized accounting for our far-flung operations, including the accounting for our Russian and German subsidiaries. I am hiring native Russian-speakers in Las Vegas and coordinating international tax work with a Big 4 firm.
* Frequently called upon for problem solving and finding innovative workarounds to use existing technologies to meet futuristic issues, while researching ways to automate same issues on a more permanent basis.
* Primary liaison between company, and banks and lenders.

Corporate Controller

GCom2 Solutions

Short-term project - managed BYU financial internship. We generated financial reports for European hedge funds. Company was sold shortly after the move to Utah to take the position.

Manager, Report Production Services

We provide financial and administrative services to small- to mid-size corporations, including but not limited to: Writing accounting procedure guides, hiring back office staff, cleaning up ledgers in advance of an audit, "fixing" Excel workbooks in advance of a SOX audit, financial and legal translations (German to English), and writing procedures to meet e.g. FDA guidelines.

While the company was dormant from April 2007 to October 2007, we've semi-revived it for now. It serves as administrative support for Center for White Rose Studies. We also use any management consulting work we do to underwrite the Center's activities.

President

ICM America LLC

Working for this new American subsidiary of an established SAP consulting firm saw growth to $3.5 million in revenue and staffing from three employees to twenty full-time employees, plus twelve independent contractors in a 2-year period. 

Principal responsibilities included:
• Implementing all accounting procedures, controls, and systems and monitoring the Company’s financial condition including budgeting, maintenance of general ledger, balance sheets, AP/AR, etc.
• Creation and issuance of all financial statements including balance sheets and income statements, budget variance reports, P&L analysis by job and by consultant, and cash flow analysis/statements.
• Presented audited (Asher & Co.) financial statements annually to CFO of parent company in Munich.
• Overseeing outside independent audit which continually yielded no exceptions or adjustments.
Other responsibilities and accomplishments included:
• Negotiation for lines of credit.
• Managing trademark application.

Controller

CorrOcean USA, Inc.

Working for this Norwegian-owned manufacturer of corrosion monitoring equipment to reconcile previously untested balance sheet accounts (including cash and inventory) since company’s inception in 1991. Key accomplishments included:
• Wrote accounting procedure guide for use by internal personnel and instituted proper internal controls.
• Converted company from an essentially manual accounting system to QuickBooks.
• Recreated balance sheets, P&Ls, and reconciled all B/S accounts.
• Passed full audit performed by KPMG Peat Marwick.
• Analyzed the company’s business processes and submitted report to Norwegian parent company with all but one recommendation accepted.
• Presented audited (KPMG Peat Marwick) financial statements annually to CFO of parent company in Trondheim.
• Drafted policies and issued Employee Manual.

Translations Verbatim

Managed teams of translators (independent contractors) for German-to-English translations of financial, administrative, and legal documents. Major clients included the German Treuhandanstalt, responsible for privatization of former East German companies; Deutsche Bank; the law firms of Fulbright & Jaworski and Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay; The Consul General of Austria; Advanced Nautical Products; SPA Welding (Germany); Maxxam Properties; and the German-American Chamber of Commerce in Houston.

Project Manager and Owner

ITAG Exploration, Inc.

• Acted as liaison between inhouse counsel of parent co and law firm handling suit against major oil company over price gouging.
• Prepared financial reports and production reporting.
• Additional duties included hiring and supervising staff of 4, incl. Sales Assistant, accounting, and general clerical staff; plus 8 independent contractors working part-time on ongoing lawsuit.
• Functioned as acting “landman” for the company, analyzing DOI and royalty interest contracts.
• Prepared financial reporting packages including consolidated statements for parent and three subsidiaries, including a Canadian branch office, and financials for  three additional unrelated firms – American investments of shareholders of the parent company. The consolidated statements were for a Texas corp., the Canadian sub of that Texas corp., a Delaware corp., and an unincorporated branch of the German parent company.
• Presented audited (KPMG) financial statements annually to CFO of parent company in Celle.

Controller & Secretary/Treasurer

Senior year at TCU, it looked like I would become a Math professor. Full-ride scholarship to a prestigious Yankee university was in the works. A few weeks before graduation, a wrench was thrown into the works. The Fulbright-Hays Commission notified me that I had won a coveted place at the university in Augsburg. Germany. The award was to work on eventual PhD in "Humor in German Literature," specifically as it relates to political humor. Ludwig Thoma, Frank Wedekind, those were my guys.

Change of plans: I would become a German professor.

Everything seemed on track to achieve that goal. Working on my Master's at Rice and took a 3-day job at a German-owned oil company in Houston. CEO was the only German-speaker in the US company. The Chief Accountant asked if I would consider working part-time while studying at Rice. They would teach me accounting. [Old joke: Mathies can do accounting, accountants can't do Math.]

Did I ever learn accounting! This little company had eight entities, which included four different year-ends and four different corporation types. That mess had to be consolidated. We also had to undergo a full external audit every year, since German parentco was a multi-billion dollar concern. We lived with Peat Marwick, now KPMG, in our department.

For the next mumble-mumble years, I managed to get one job after another, working as Controller and CFO for American subsidiaries of German companies. Even when I formed a translation company, even when it was doing well, clients would learn I was accountant and that would be added to our SOW.

Once I fell into the White Rose story (July 1994), trajectory changed inalterably. Yes, I still paid bills with accounting. But researching and writing their story, warts and all, never let go.

It has not been easy. Lots of money goes to writers who tell the national mythology, who don't dig deep. My legacy to the field of Holocaust Studies: Giving voice to the real people who were scared out of their minds, yet who still had the (fearful) courage to resist. Who wrote strong words. Painted graffiti on Nazi monuments with tar-based paint that wouldn't wash off.

I speak for them. I tell their stories. I ensure they will not be forgotten. Not on my watch.

And I'm always looking for people who are willing to join the journey. Opening the door to the world of heroes...

taplio

The Battle

Gerard McLean

Denise Heap

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