Daniel (Dan) Dalton is the Chief Financial Officer of W.S. Darley & Co., bringing extensive experience in finance, strategy, operations and business transformation.

Before joining Darley, Dan spent almost 12 years at Ferrara Candy Company, a leading confectionery company with more than 8,300 employees and products sold in over 40 countries. Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as Nerds, Jelly Belly and Trolli. Ferrara is affiliated with Ferrero, one of the world’s largest confectionery companies.

Dan held several senior finance leadership positions during his career at Ferrara, including Vice President of Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis and Treasurer. In these roles, he led enterprise financial planning, forecasting, treasury and capital structure activities; supported strategic decision-making across the organization; and played a key role in the financial evaluation, due diligence and financing of several significant acquisitions. He also helped establish Ferrara’s integrated business planning process, strengthening the connection among commercial, operational and financial plans.

During his last two years at Ferrara, Dan served as Vice President of Supply Chain Operations. He was responsible for Ferrara’s domestic and international transportation and distribution network, product commercialization, project management, lifecycle management and operational excellence. He also helped lead the digital transformation of critical supply chain processes as part of the company’s transition to SAP S/4HANA.

Before his time at Ferrara, Dan held corporate financial planning and analysis roles with IndCor Properties, a Blackstone portfolio company, and worked in Assurance Services at Ernst & Young.

Dan earned a Master of Science in Accountancy from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Ohio. He is a Certified Public Accountant and resides in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and three sons.