Jonesboro hires a new chief financial officer

Northeast Arkansas’ hub city has a new chief financial officer.

Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin selected Bill Reznicek on Monday as the city’s next CFO. A certified public accountant, Reznicek has managed major financial operations as a private sector CFO and has three-plus decades of accounting experience. Reznicek, who has run his own private firm the past eight years, has lived in Jonesboro for more than a year after moving from Memphis.

“Bill was the best of a group of top-notch candidates,” Perrin said. “His experience as a CFO for multiple companies is impressive. But perhaps more impressive is the fact that at every stop along his career path, he has been promoted to higher positions.”

Reznicek replaces Suzanne Allen, who left the city for a job in the private sector last month. Reznicek said he moved to Jonesboro a year ago because he sought a better quality of life.

“I saw the quality of life and growth of Jonesboro,” he said. “I still had clients in Memphis so I didn’t want to move too far away, but in Jonesboro I saw an opportunity to be part of a growing and thriving community.”

He owns Reznicek CPA and Consulting, a public accounting firm established in 2009, and was CFO and Vice President of RubberQueen/Pretty Products Corp. automotive supplier from 2000-2009. He also has held executive positions at Monsanto, Setech/Lewis Supply Co., and Shelby Die Casting Co.

A native of St. Joseph, Mich., Reznicek grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan, an hour east of Chicago. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University and a Master’s in accounting from the University of Memphis.

At the city of Jonesboro, he will lead four departments: finance, grants, information technology and human resources. He will work closely with the mayor and department heads in budgeting and managing the city’s day-to-day operations.

The new CFO inherits a city on an economic upswing.

In 2016, the city collected an all-time record $17.326 million in sales tax receipts, a 4.43% increase from 2015. Since 2012, the city’s sales tax base has grown by 15.3%. This year, those receipts are also on a record pace through August. At least $13.424 million has been collected the first eight months of the year, an almost 4% increase as compared to the first eight months in 2016.

Unemployment rates have hovered at just over 3% for the last year, and building permit numbers have been relatively strong despite setbacks to two major convention center projects in the city.

Reznicek said his strength is in finance and team building.

“My work philosophy is to identify talent in individuals and use that talent to benefit that individual’s growth,” he said.