DATE: Tuesday, March 22, 2011
TIME: 11:00am - 12:00pm
WHERE: Weber Music Hall
NAME, TITLE AND COMPANY: Ms. Diana Purcel, Chief Financial Officer, Famous Dave's of America, Inc.
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Diana Purcel is chief financial officer and corporate secretary of Famous Dave’s of America, a publicly held company specializing in operating and franchising great barbecue restaurants in approximately 180 restaurants in 37 states. In that capacity she is responsible for all of the accounting and finance functions, investor relations, internal audit, legal, purchasing, and information systems.
Prior to joining Famous Dave’s in November 2003, Diana was chief financial officer and chief accounting officer of Paper Warehouse, Inc. where she also had previously served as controller. She has also held positions with Provell, Inc. (formerly Damark International), Target Corporation (formerly Dayton Hudson Corporation) and Arthur Andersen.
Diana, a Minnesota native and graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, is a certified public accountant. Diana sits on the advisory council for the Minnesota School of Business’s accounting program, and has been a guest lecturer at The University of St. Thomas and the Minnesota School of Business. Diana currently serves on Famous Dave’s Franchise Advisory Board and on the advisory committee for Black Box Intelligence/People Report. Diana received the honor of being named a Top Woman in Finance for the State of Minnesota by Finance-Commerce in 2005 and in 2010 and was recently honored with inclusion in their Circle of Excellence. Diana was named a ‘Forty-under-Forty’ honoree by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal in 2006 and was a finalist for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal CFO of the year in 2007.
Diana lives in Corcoran Minnesota with her husband of over twenty years, her three children, Brandon, Laurel and Blake, and her two cats.