Creighton K. (Kim) Early
Kim has over thirty-eight years’ experience in various senior financial and operational management positions in both publicly-traded and privately held companies, including firms financed by private equity. After beginning his career in public accounting with KPMG, Kim successfully led the financial and manufacturing operations of one of the leading computer keyboard manufacturers in the U.S. before selling the company to a Japanese conglomerate. A subsequent series of turnaround consulting assignments culminated in the sale of an environmental engineering practice to publicly-traded Earth Tech, Inc. and Kim’s appointment to the position Chief Financial Officer of the company. Over the subsequent fourteen years, the management team grew Earth Tech from a $37 million federal government geotechnical consulting firm into a $1.3 billion multi-national water, environmental and transportation engineering leader. Kim served four years as President of the Global Water Management division of, which comprised more than half the firm’s revenues. Subsequent to his career at Earth Tech he was a Consulting Principal with New York-based EFCG, providing M&A and strategic advisory services to engineering and environmental consulting firms in the U.S. and abroad, which led to an assignment as a shareholder and Chief Financial Officer for Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, a $700 million builder of utility-scale wind, solar, and biomass projects financed by private equity. Kim has participated in more than forty-five M-&-A transactions as either a buyer, a seller or an advisor. He currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Energy Solutions segment of Willdan Group, Inc.
Kim graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in Finance, and received an MBA from the University of Michigan. He lives in Orange County, California with his wife of 41 years. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of two publicly traded and three privately held companies, and serves in an advisory position to several engineering and environmental service firms in the U.S. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Lochner Engineering.