Memphis Business Journal CFO of the Year Finalist:  Matt Hayden

October 20-26, 2017

Matthew L. Hayden

Treasurer, CFO

Boyle Investment Company

What company does:  Real estate development, sales, leasing and management company specializing in commercial and residential properties.

What your job entails:  Oversight of all of the financial accounting and reporting, tax planning and compliance for Boyle’s operating companies, subsidiaries and real estate partnerships.

Background:  Bachelors and Masters of Accounting from the University of Mississippi.  CPA (inactive).

BIG PICTURE

How’s business?  Exciting and busy. We continue to work on large-scale, mixed-use developments, commercial office and retail properties, multifamily developments and residential land development in Memphis and Nashville.

Biggest challenge at the moment:  Managing growth and capital allocation.

How do you measure success? We measure success by the long-term success of our people, customers, properties, and vendors. In the real estate industry you must be patient, so measuring one year over the next is not what we do. We employ the philosophy of treating others as you want to be treated, and if we are held to a standard of doing what you say I would think Boyle ranks very high in that category.

BUSINESS MOVES

Biggest business strength:  Our people are our biggest strength. While real estate consists of dirt, steel, concrete, brick and mortar, the knowledge and experience of our people is what makes it all work. Also, the relationships between Boyle employees and our customers and vendors have forged a culture that is second to none in the industry.

Biggest business weakness:  We are very cerebral about big decisions, which can add time to the decision making process. The good news is that many times hindsight proves this approach to be a strength.

Most strategic move:  There have been many in Boyle’s history. I would have to say developing the office market in East Memphis at Poplar and I-240 and developing Ridgeway Center was a huge strategic move made in the early 1970’s. Also, Boyle opened a Nashville office in 2001 and that office has grown to approximately 30 people today. Boyle Nashville, LLC is now one of the largest developers in the Nashville region.

WORK ROUTINE

Source of support in a business crisis:  The Boyle management team is a great source of support. They are very patient and don’t panic in a crisis situation.

Favorite task:  I like problem solving and strategic planning.

DREAMS

Key goal to achieve:  To provide better analysis and reporting to our owners and partners. Given the complexities of some of our partnership structures, this is challenging. We now have a new accounting and property management system that can produce a lot of meaningful data, so this is doable.

What’s in the short-term future?  In the short term, we are working to execute key development projects in Memphis and Nashville. Our new 150,000 Class A office building, 949 Shady Grove, will be completed in Memphis in October, and several large mixed-use projects are under development in the Nashville area, including Capitol View, Berry Farms, and McEwen Northside.

Five-year plan:  To continue to grow with Boyle and provide the necessary financial, accounting and strategic planning guidance that will help the company for many years to come.