At the beginning of December 2020, Max Marcy was promoted to Global Corporate Treasurer at H.B. Fuller. He started with H.B. Fuller over eleven years ago, initially managing foreign currency and investor relations. His leadership skills were quickly noticed and by 2018, Max was recognized as a top investor relations professional by Wall Street analysis.
From a young age, Max knew he wanted to go to school for finance.
鈥淢y goal was always to be an investment banker; I鈥檝e always been a finance guy. I鈥檝e always been interested in numbers.鈥�
Max is a graduate from 2003. After spending one year at Luther College in Iowa and one year off, he found Augsburg鈥檚 StepUP program and began in the fall of 2000. StepUP was a relatively new program at the time, but Max fell in love with the program and with Augsburg, particularly the fitness center.
鈥淏eing in StepUP wasn鈥檛 like what it is today, it was a new program. The fitness center was a level playing field where we were all out there trying to do the same thing, trying to stay active. It was a great meeting ground, and I met a lot of people from all over campus,鈥� says Max.
Max also had the opportunity to play in Augsburg鈥檚 Jazz and Concert bands. He enjoyed playing at Sunday gospel praise group and had the chance to travel to Ireland with the Concert Band under Professor Bob Stacke.
After graduating with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Finance and a minor in Management Information Systems, Max joined Valspar Corporation. Max had the opportunity to go back to school with Valspar鈥檚 education benefits and earned his MBA in Corporate Finance at the University of Minnesota鈥檚 Carlson School of Management in 2008. This degree, along with his experience as a Senior Treasury Analyst, got Max on H.B. Fuller鈥檚 radar.
鈥淐orporate treasury is the finance you study in undergrad and in business school. Learning how to issue bonds, operating bank accounts, projecting cash flows around the world. That鈥檚 what I do, that鈥檚 what I like to do.鈥�
Today, Max is the Corporate Treasurer for H.B. Fuller.
鈥淚鈥檓 the company piggy bank!鈥�
Max is responsible for oversight of the funds his company generates, which can get very complicated when operating businesses in over 100 countries.
When COVID-19 hit in March of 2020, Max spent most of his time studying a multitude of scenarios to make sure the company could weather the pandemic. Now, his focus has shifted to looking more at how to work remotely while bringing back some of the engagement lost in a virtual landscape.
鈥淚鈥檓 not your typical finance person. I鈥檓 very analytical, but I don鈥檛 sit behind a desk all day. I like talking to people and socializing, and that鈥檚 more difficult when you can鈥檛 run down the hallway to talk to them. People now are scheduling all sorts of calls all the time, booking calendars up, so instead of the two-minute hallway conversation we are having long meetings. How do we fix that? We need to figure out how we connect more efficiently through all this remote working.鈥�
When looking back at his time at Augsburg, Max believes the best thing he did and the best thing students can do today is to take in the full experience of class.
鈥淭he easiest thing you can do is go to class, learn what you鈥檙e paying to learn. I wasn鈥檛 always the best at spending time with homework and studying, but my butt was always in the chair. Get in your chair or on your computer and just listen.鈥�
Max also credits talking to others and asking questions for helping him get to where he is today.
鈥淩each out, ask questions. Ask what people do in their job. Figure out what it means to be a business analyst, what it means to be an IT professional, what it means to be a Treasurer, so that you have a little more direction.鈥�
Max had a clear direction of where he wanted to go 鈥� finance 鈥� so he put himself in career opportunities to learn. He wanted to understand what jobs actually entailed before he just took a position.
鈥淚t鈥檒l give you a leg up to know more. You鈥檒l have more of a work/life balance, and more job satisfaction. Take the opportunities, and that will go a long way versus being frustrated with what you鈥檙e doing and always waiting for a payday.鈥�