Sales Management

Jimmy LaRue

***** ***** **** ***** **** Desert, CA 92260 213-***-****

**********@*****.***

SENIOR FINANCIAL OFFICER - CORPORATE/ TECHNOLOGY/ BUSINESS UNIT - EXPENSE

MANAGEMENT

EXPERIENCE

29TH STREET BOOKS/ WE CALL THEM BOOKS

2004 to present

wecallthembooks.com- owner of online and retail bookstore

- First book sales in December 2003, with 40% annual growth through 2008;

currently working in a very challenging environment.

- Sold more than 50,000 books to-date on seven online venues including my

own website.

- Purchased distressed and closing distributors and closing book store

inventories. Have made 4 of these deals, acquiring more than 30,000 books

from this source alone.

- Continually expanding sales venues and inventory sources, including

partnering with retail used book stores and thrift shops.

- In addition to online sales, opened retail bookstore in January 2008;

closed October 2009.

CNA FINANCIAL- Chicago, Illinois

1996 to 2003

AVP Finance- CNA Information Technology and Standard Lines

January 2002 to May 2003

- Led expense management for Standard Lines business- $1 billion 2003

budget, 7000 employees. Also continued IT SFO/Controller role- $500

million 2003 budget, 1400 employees.

- Supported two organizations with varying needs. Business emphasis on

expense management. IT emphasis on ROI, metrics and project expense

management. Worked closely with our business and financial leaders to

help them better understand technology expenses.

- Led 2002 and 2003 expense planning. For 2002, Standard Lines 5% under

budget, IT 20% under. Managed in a challenging environment that included

many budget reductions and RIF's.

- Led staff of 16 analysts and managers; mentored 3 employees; informally

advised 10 others.

- Key member of team that revised CNA's expense allocations, changing how

we passed $800 million of expenses from staff departments to our

insurance products.

Controller, AVP- CNA Technology Solutions Group October

2001 to January 2002

- Assumed financial leadership role for Technology and Operations,

including eBusiness. 2001 operating expenses of $524 million were 11%

under $590 million budget (eBusiness 30% under).

- Developed and directed staff of 12 analysts with technology focus.

- Team member of finance functional reorganization. Team direction resulted

in 25% reduction (150 of 600) in finance positions at CNA.

Senior Financial Officer, AVP- CNA eBusiness Group

September 2000 to October 2001

- Led eBusiness Finance team- $150 million 2001 operating expense budget,

managed 5 financial analysts. In 2000, met all milestones and

deliverables and beat our budget (10% under plan).

- Team developed business cases for technology projects, provided alliance

and vendor due diligence, coordinated expense

planning/reporting/projections and resource tracking.

- Outsourcing team member for web hosting selection. Developed pricing

models, worked with contracting and technology teams in selection

process.

- Led effort to acquire on-line personal insurance provider. With legal,

technology and management teams from CNA and target company performed one

of our fastest due diligence efforts and offers.

- Led Knowledge Network pilot and implementation. Successful pilot to

limited employee base resulted in expansion to entire CNA employee

population.

Director, Financial Analysis- CNA Commercial Insurance March 2000

to September 2000

- Worked with financial and operational staff to manage a $560 million

expense budget.

- Contact for all operating expense information, explanations and research.

- Emphasis on expense reductions. Researched billing errors related to

internal technology services resulting in $2 million annual savings of

mis-charged items.

- Built/managed quarterly expense projection model. Coordinated 16 business

areas projections.

Director, Financial Planning and Analysis- CNA Human Resources

July 1996 to March 2000

- Responsible for department annual budget of $70 million and all financial

reporting. Assisted managers, division and department heads during all

stages of budgeting/analysis/reporting.

- Department contact for HR customer expenses, technology, planning and

corporate finance.

- Projects including PeopleSoft general ledger installation, cost transfer

method design for staff departments, benchmark study of HR services,

Balanced Scorecard study and implementation.

INVESTMENT AND SECURITIES GROUP- Cairo, Egypt

Summer 1994

- Financial Analyst- Studied the Cairo Stock Exchange and privatization

efforts in Egypt. Prepared feasibility reports for potential investors

and worked on company's first comprehensive study of Egyptian market

data.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION- Kansas City, Missouri

March 1991 to July 1993

- Financial Analyst- Financial Institution Fraud Unit. Investigated bank

fraud and assisted prosecution teams in trial preparation. Member of a

team investigating Kansas City banker/real estate developer. Case led to

indictment and conviction of 5 associates and government takeover of

majority of banks owned by defendant. Prepared undercover operations

expense reports and office budgets. Revised check-kite and property

search databases.

UNITED MISSOURI BANK OF KANSAS CITY- Kansas City, Missouri

March 1987 to March 1991

- Accountant II- Employee Benefits- September 1990 to March 1991- Prepared

valuations, tax forms, benefit payments. Maintained participant record

keeping for benefit plans.

- Product Manager- Automated Clearing House (ACH)- November 1989 to

September 1990- Marketed and installed systems, instructed customers on

use, developed and expanded services for our customers. Revised billing

system to capture items previously uncharged.

- Funds Analyst- Electronic Payment Services- March 1987 to November 1989-

Managed Federal Reserve account ($10 billion daily activity- no

settlement errors) and 25 bank accounts. Rotated through fast-paced, high-

energy department. Spent time working in wire transfer, money market

purchase/ redemption, cash management and ACH.

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EDUCATION

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Graduate School of Business- Chicago, Illinois

March 1996

MBA- Finance/International Business. LEAD VI Facilitator, Banking and

Finance Group

CENTRAL MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY- Warrensburg, Missouri

December 1986

BS- Business Administration, Finance

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