JAMES J. VAN DRESS,
2720 S. Ocean Blvd ● Apt. 120 ● Palm Beach, FL 33480
(440) 336-1062 ● e-mail: [email protected]

EDUCATION
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio May 2003
Weatherhead School of Management
MBA -- International Management and Finance Concentrations
Included study abroad program at the Ecole de Management de Lyon (France)

American Graduate School of International Management Glendale, Arizona
Thunderbird
MIM (Master of International Management) May 2004

John Carroll University Cleveland, Ohio May 1999
BSBA – Major: Accountancy, Minor: French
COLLEGE AWARDS AND ACTIVITIES
American Values Scholarship ● Weatherhead Scholarship ● Accounting Association
Cross Country ● Winter and Spring Track
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
• Passed Uniform CPA Exam – May 1999
• Member of Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants
• Member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• Passed practical French business exam administered by the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris with high honors – May 1997
EXPERIENCE
Alpha-Directorate West Palm Beach, FL
Partner (April 2008 to present)
• Co-founded firm specializing in business consulting services including risk management, operations management, strategy and document translation services
Ernst & Young Cleveland, OH and West Palm Beach, FL offices
Manager (June 2004 to April 2008)
• Developed Sarbanes-Oxley scoping approach with team to determine business units and locations subject to SOX documentation procedures
• Performed SOX remediation/rollforward testing for Century Aluminum, Masco, Corning, Metaldyne, Kodak, Bowater, Florida Power & Light and Sealy at various US and international business units
• Assisted several Electrolux business units in designing SOX subprocess flowcharts and risk matrices and in performing walkthroughs
• Completed internal audit reports and other deliverables related to certain Electrolux special projects.
• Created a “Basic Accounting Concepts” module for use in the Core Skills Level One training course.
• Developed control self assessments for Sealy Corporation’s French business unit.

Crowe Chizek and Company, LLP Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio
Senior Associate (August 1999 to May 2002)
• Prepared corporate annual and quarterly financial statements for public and non-public financial institution clients
LANGUAGES
Native – English, Fluent – French, Basic – Spanish ● German ● Italian