Will Assume Duties of Retiring CFO, John Bierbaum

Thomas J. (Tom) Mertens of Medina has been named Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. He will succeed the retiring John Bierbaum, who has served as CFO since 2005.

“I am both honored and excited to have the opportunity to utilize my skills to assist the archdiocese, parishes, and schools to fulfill their financial and operational goals,” said Mertens about his new career opportunity with the state’s largest Catholic diocese. He will begin his new duties on December 3.

Mertens was selected after an extensive search process that involved Chancery leadership and members of the Archdiocesan Finance Committee, which is made up of both clergy and laity with expertise in finance and operations management.

Archbishop John Nienstedt expressed high expectations for Mertens, noting “I am delighted that Tom is joining our leadership team at the archdiocese. Tom’s immediate focus will be to help lead us to the next level of financial accountability and implementation of best practices for our operations. I appreciate Tom’s wealth of experience and demonstrated skill in finance and operations. And as a lifelong Catholic, Tom brings to this work a great love for the Church as well as a solid understanding of parish life.”

Mertens brings 22 years of experience to his new position from previous roles in corporate finance, consulting and public accounting. Most recently, he was CFO of Macquarie AIR-serv Holding, Inc. of Mendota Heights where he began as Controller in 2004. Earlier, he was a consultant with Frank Consulting of Plymouth and served as Corporate Controller of ProStaff in Minneapolis.

He also served as an Area Controller with Browning-Ferris Industries where, for eight years, he was responsible for the accounting functions of 15 locations in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri. After graduating from St. John’s University in 1987 with a B.S. in Accounting, Mertens began his career with KPMG-Peat Marwick in Minneapolis and also earned his CPA. Mertens and his wife of 20 years, Paula, and their two children live in Medina and are parishioners of the Church of Saint Anne in Hamel.