Lowell National Historic Park, MA
In honor of Labor Day CFO Magazine has an article about the rise and fall of cotton mills in New England. Author R.G. Voorhees draws lessons from the Lowell Mills – where a focus on labor costs prevented mill managers from investing in maintenance and technology.
The new cloth-making business put both capital and labor to work on a
scale that demanded not just new machines, but new management.
Unfortunately, the accounting and financial technology of the day
wasn't up to the task. Financial managers of the time focused on the
familiar — costs of labor and materials — but oddly enough, often
ignored the potential challenges of maintenance, obsolescence and
technological change that came with their new machines. Without a good
understanding of the importance of depreciation and reserves, writes
one historian, "The known expense of labor received more attention than
the largely unknown problems of capital expense."
Read more:
Finance in History: Labor Days
R.G. Voorhees
CFO.com
August 30, 2007
Lowell National Historic Park
Lowell, MA
National Park Service
During her time at Glenbrook, Erin focused on client engagements in business payments, cross-border transactions, bill payment, and the intersection of corporate finance, banking, and ERP/accounting. She has nearly twenty years of experience leading increasingly complex payment initiatives for corporate clients and advising financial institutions and payment technologists on the development of their payment capabilities.
Erin is also the founder of Forte Financial, a consulting firm focused on corporate finance efficiency, technology, and process improvement. She is a past president of the Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco and also a two-term past president of the San Francisco Treasury Management Association. Erin is no longer with Glenbrook, but contributed greatly during her time at the firm.