For CFMA members who haven’t met Marj Weber, do yourself a big favor and meet her at the 2020 Annual Conference & Exhibition (Washington D.C.). Marj has been an incredibly active and proud member of CFMA’s Valley of the Sun Chapter since 1994, serving as their Chapter President (1999-2000) after attending CFMA at Spring Creek. She has participated in the Chapter’s Program and Education Committees for over 13 years, chairing both. In addition to this, planning for the first Executive of the Year program at the Valley of the Sun Chapter occurred under her presidency, and the event has been held every year since 2001.
Marj jumped into the CFMA National world in 2003 with a role on the CCIFP Exam Development Task Force (the committee that writes the exam questions), and she became a co-leader in 2010. She served on the Executive, Finance, and Succession Planning Committees, prior to becoming the National Chair of the ICCIFP in 2010. Marj also experienced being a Mentoring Client in 2010 and went on to mentor three up-and-coming CFMA members herself.
Perhaps Marj Weber’s first love in the CFMA universe is Education. That would explain why she continues to be heavily involved in the Conference Program Task Force which she joined in 2007. Having worked for the same Specialty Trade contractor (Irontree Construction) since 1981, Marj fully appreciates the unique challenges that specialty trade contractors face every day. As members, we have her to thank for suggesting a Sub-Specialty track at the 2008 Annual Conference & Exhibition, which directly led to our Specialty Trade Committee’s formation. Marj recalls that “for a few years it was me, Pam (Hepburn), Kevin (Booth), and Michelle (Walker) that ran the show. We have grown since then and are now an official committee.”
In addition to a number of leadership recognition awards from her chapter, she has earned CFMA National acclaim winning both the prestigious Joe Quigley and Debra Hahn Memorial Association Awards and most recently the ICCIFP Vision & Leadership Award in 2019. Marj is also quite the presenter and educator herself. In addition to presenting at multiple CFMA chapter events and many times at the Annual Conference & Exhibition, she has given presentations at the AGC/ CFMA Conference, the AICPA Construction Conference, the ASCPA Conference, and the NECA Conference.
Despite her incredibly active CFMA life, she has been at the financial helm of Irontree Construction, a commercial and industrial plumbing, and piping specialty trade contractor in Mesa, AZ. Since establishing their office with the owner Gary Williams in 1981, in her role as CFO and Treasurer, she has overseen growth in revenues six-fold over the years. While she and Gary made the decision to stay small about 30 years ago, Irontree successfully transitioned to a second generation, Gary’s son Greg, and the company has grown from eight employees to 40, while maintaining profitability in just about every year of its existence! Greg credits Marj with developing the sound financial footing, bonding capacity, and human resource functions that underpin Irontree’s success.
Marj Weber is a true All-Star CFO and champion of CFMA. She is always happy to help anyone in the CFMA universe, so please reach out to her and introduce yourself at the next Annual Conference & Exhibition and thank her for all she has done for CFMA.
Copyright © 2019 by the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). All rights reserved. This article first appeared in the November 2019 CFMA Talking Trades Newsletter.