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Faces of Interface Featuring Eric Cassidy

In today’s Faces of Interface, we share the story about the man behind the money, Eric Cassidy, Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis. Eric has an interesting background rooted in the scientific field and a journey that eventually led him to take a leading position in our Finance Department at Interface.

Eric Cassidy took an unorthodox journey into finance after pursuing an education and early career in chemical engineering. He graduated with a chemical engineering degree from the University of Illinois and went to work for a chemical plant mixing and packaging industrial cleaning supplies. In this role, he was responsible for managing 30 people.

However, Eric realized that this was not what he wanted to do. Rather than sticking it out, he decided to go back to school in the evenings for an MBA in finance. Fortunately, the chemical plant had a great track record of moving engineers in other roles, and he was able to move to a finance role. He stayed with the company for five years.

His background in chemical engineering also allowed him to move to new finance roles within the industry. He served as a controller for 13 years at Ecolab, where he was charged with being a controller for a chemical engineering plant and a few warehouses. When the pandemic hit, he also spent some time working for a bakery for a year before joining Interface.

Eric found Interface when looking for a new job. He lived in Dallas at the time, while his whole family lived in Phoenix. He had never heard of us but found our listing during a job search in the area. It seemed like a terrific opportunity because his chemical engineering degree and background significantly helped with understanding the way things work in a manufacturing facility like Interface’s. As he did more research, he found himself excited about the opportunity due to the level of engineering that goes into our products.

He joined on as the Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis. He quickly got to work revamping the budgets for all departments, performing a cost analysis, and creating a system to help keep better track of financial data. Eric worked hard to review all financial details for Interface to fix material costs and absorption matching to get the budget back in order and improve pricing on products.

Eric mentioned that the work he has done for Interface so far has been a challenge, but it is what he enjoys most about the role. He enjoys taking on difficult problems and finding impactful solutions. As mentioned before, he also genuinely enjoys the level of precision and details that go into the products we make, and he appreciates his role in getting these products in the hands of customers.

Outside of the office, Eric is a big history buff and enjoys reading historical biographies on prominent figures and events in history. When we spoke with Eric, he was digging into Richard Rhodes’ The Making of the Atomic Bomb. To stay active, he can also often be found working out or hitting one of the many incredible golf courses found here in Arizona.

Eric’s financial and leadership expertise and experience has been critical to Interface and were thrilled to have him on the team.  Learn more about Interface’s excellent staff in our Faces of Interface ForceLeaders series highlighting the individuals across all departments and disciplines making Interface the world’s premium force measurement solutions provider.

ForceLeaders is a registered trademark of Interface, Inc.