Sasser Family Holdings, Inc., a fourth-generation, family-held transportation asset services and management company based in Schaumburg, Ill., announced it has named Susan Buchanan senior vice president and chief financial officer. Buchanan will be responsible for all areas of Sasser’s finance function, including providing guidance to and ensuring alignment between Sasser’s subsidiary business units and their finance leadership teams. She will report to CEO Jeff Walsh.
“I couldn’t be more excited about joining Sasser Family Holdings, a dynamic organization with a 90-year tradition of innovation, high-performing teams, and continuous improvement. Sasser’s commitment to putting its rail, fleet, and aviation customers first is rooted in a culture driven by stewardship. What also resonated with me was Sasser’s focus on people. Employees are given the tools and freedom to thrive in an opportunity-based culture, and encouraged to volunteer their time to support causes and organizations that help children and families in need. That level of employee engagement along with leadership’s approach to decision making—playing the long game—made joining Sasser an easy decision and a privilege. I’m looking forward to getting to work analyzing, refining, and executing financial strategies that will further strengthen and enhance our business,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan began her finance leadership career in 1987 as a senior financial analyst for Navistar Financial Corp. and spent 11 years at Duchossois Industries, Inc. in a variety of financial roles. Prior to joining Sasser, Buchanan was vice president, CFO and treasurer for Carus Group, Inc. Buchanan was a key member of the executive management team, with responsibilities for the company’s overall financial welfare, policies, risk management, accounting practices, information technology and relationships with financial community. Previously, Buchanan was vice president, Finance and Business Operations, for Nalco Co., a water, energy, and air technologies company. She led all financial aspects for Nalco’s global Water and Process Services Division.
Buchanan earned an MBA from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor’s degree in business/finance from Elmhurst College.
“Along with high-performing teams throughout Sasser, our culture enables us to attract and retain top-level talent like Sue. We are intentional and highly selective in adding experienced professionals to our leadership team to support our strategic objectives and opportunity-based culture. Sue comes to us from a family-held company, which makes her a natural fit for our uncompromising integrity, highly customer-centric approach, and relentless improvement. I know that she will be a strong business partner and thought leader and am looking forward to working closely with Sue,” said CEO Jeff Walsh.