Carol Tome joined Home Depot in 1995 and rose through the ranks to become CFO in 2001 and executive vice president of corporate services in 2007. Photo: Wayne Armstrong
You’d think her job as chief financial officer and executive vice president of corporate services for Home Depot would keep her busy enough, but Carol Tomé (MBA ’81) also finds time to serve on the boards of the United Parcel Service and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and to volunteer for organizations such as the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
In 2012 Tomé will add yet another title to her already crowded resumé: chair of the Metro Atlanta Chamber.
“I’m blessed in that I have a lot of stamina,” she says. “I don’t sleep too many hours each night.”
For all of her accomplishments, Tomé received DU’s Founders Day Professional Achievement Award in March.
Tomé began her career as a commercial lender with United Bank of Denver (now Wells Fargo), then spent several years as director of banking for the Johns-Manville Corp. She joined Home Depot in 1995 and rose through the ranks to become CFO in 2001 and executive vice president of corporate services in 2007.
One of the biggest challenges in her career came in recent years, when she had to make tough choices in response to an economic downturn that directly affected her company’s bottom line.
“Given our exposure to housing, the mortgage crisis had a huge impact on the Home Depot,” she says. “From 2006–09 our sales dropped by more than $13 billion, and our cumulative operating profit declined by about $4 billion. During this time we had to make some very hard decisions.”
Those decisions included divesting a business, closing stores and reducing workforce, but Home Depot also decided to invest, both in supply chain transformation and in its employees.
“At a time when many companies were foregoing bonus payments or contributions to retirement plans, we paid merit increases, we paid bonuses to our hourly associates, and we made contributions to 401(k) plans,” she says. “These investments are paying off. Our customers are happy, our associate morale is great, and we continue to show productivity improvements.”