PVBS Customer iGov CFO Rich Marksberry Shares Tips for GCs

 

Rich Marksberry brings a unique blend of tech and financial expertise to his role as CFO of iGov, a systems integrator based in McLean, Va. Marksberry joined iGov at a critical time in the company’s history, when it was redefining its focus away from simply being a product reseller to a full-scale information technology engineering and services firm.

With his arrival in January 2007, Marksberry overhauled the company’s accounting systems infrastructure — a move that jumpstarted iGov’s ability to better handle cost and time and material, as well as fixed-price contracts. Marksberry also revised accounting and operational procedures to assist iGov in ISO certification, and updated the company’s IT infrastructure.

Looking to 2009, Marksberry has one main goal: to further raise the value of iGov for its shareholders. As a key player in that process, Marksberry sticks to a time-proven formula: Know your customers. “We are very keen on keeping our customer relationships up and running and understanding what their needs are,” he says. Staying focused is critical, he adds. “Knowing your prime customers and focusing enough to go after the things that you can provide is key; if you try to take too wide a swath at opportunities in the federal government you can really become overwhelmed, overextended and not focused enough to provide the solution that the customer needs,” he says.

Marksberry’s Tip for 2009: Go back to basics

“What you really have, when you’re dealing with a government customer, are people who are trying their best to fulfill their mission,” says Marksberry. “Whether they are trying to meet energy compliance standards or get ready for the next troop deployment — just being cognizant of their needs and bringing unique solutions to them to fulfill those needs can really help you focus on bringing them the right solutions and getting your proposal accepted.”

Government contracting industry profits remain modest says recent survey

 

(As reported by David Hubler of Washington Technology)

Although the government contracting industry’s profits remain modest, 55 percent of government contractors reported revenue increases from federal business in 2008 and only 18 percent reported a decrease, according to a new Government Contractor Survey by Grant Thornton LLP.

Only 14 percent of the contractors participating in the survey reported profit rates of 15 percent or more. Just over a third, or 37 percent, reported either no profit or a pre-tax profit of between 1 percent and 5 percent, while another 39 percent had profit rates of between 6 percent and 10 percent.  The survey also found a slight decrease in the number of respondents who expect revenue from federal prime contracts to increase this year (67 percent versus 72 percent last year).

Grant Thornton’s 14th Annual Government Contractor Industry Survey is based on findings from more than 120 companies received by July 2008. The survey also found that management and support staff members as a percentage of total employees increased to 16 percent in 2008 from 9.9 percent the previous year.

The findings are consistent with last year’s survey, indicating that moderate profits are a steady trend in government contracting, Kerry Hall, Grant Thornton’s Government Contractor practice leader, said in a statement today.  “Contrary to public and media perceptions, government contracting is not a business that generates abnormally high earnings,” he said. “One could argue that profits are unusually low, particularly when you consider the performance and financial risks inherent in government contracting.”

Is the Greater Washington Region More Resilient?

Shawn Hoyer at the Bank of America sends us weekly updates on BoA’s take on the economy. He just sent me his thoughts from a presentation given by Dr. Stephen Fuller, head of the GMU Center for Regional Analysis, at the Cardinal Bank & GMU 17th Annual Economic Conference held last week.

 

Shawn said, “It’s often known we’re cushioned by the Federal Government, but I believe Dr. Fuller’s take-away would be that the “R” word in our case should mean “Resilient.”

While I believe 2009 will be difficult for most regions, there is reason to have some optimism for the Greater Washington Region (GWR):

 

• Expected 1.5% GDP growth rate in 2009.
• Federal Government work accounted for 32.2% of the economy in 2007, projected to be about 33.3% in 2009. Each change in one percentage point above equates to about $4 billion in spending
• Federal Government will spend about $135 billion in GWR alone.
• There are over 14,000 contractors in GWR, with procurement being the Fed’s largest spending area. Expect large ramp up in procurement with TARP, FDIC.
• In the past 16 years, GWR added 830K net new jobs. GWR added 31K net new jobs in 2008, 27K in 2007.
• Of the 15 largest metro areas (Nov. ’07-’08), GWR followed Houston and Dallas for net new job grow. TX driven by petro-related products, will likely reduce.
• Historically, the worst spread between GWR and National GDP has been around 4%, project that we might get to this point again, maybe more.
• Similar to 2001, GWR is in a position to field a recovery sooner than the national average, just as in 00-01.

If you would like a copy of Dr. Fuller’s presentation, please give me a call at 703.391.0977 or email me to discuss.

Bernard

Apptis’ Attilio Recommends Three-Year vs. Five-Year Plans

ExecutiveBiz interviewed 10 Top CFOs in Government Contracting — CFOs who’ve gone beyond numbers crunching to deliver the best in business and technical strategy to their companies. Hailing from small to medium to large businesses, each CFO shares a record of driving their company to greater heights. They each offered some tips for achieving success. Each has a good story to tell, starting with Rick Attilio of Apptis.

Rick Attilio of Apptis

Leadership and partnering are the two key strengths that Rick Attilio brings to his role as CFO of Apptis. After coming on board in 2006, Attilio moved the company toward greater transformation. In a quick period of a time — a year and a half, no less — Attilio helped create the infrastructure and controls environment needed for Apptis to provide competitive advantage to new sales and delivery teams. Attilio’s efforts also paved the way for a strong infrastructure for regulatory oversight, including preparation for compliance with Sarbanes Oxley 404.

Throughout, Attilio has worked with C-level leadership and division general managers to define the company’s vision. The result has been to segment the company into two distinct operating divisions: Apptis Technology Solutions, the value added reseller solutions division, and Apptis, the programmatic services division — two very different businesses, with two very different go-to market strategies. “We are starting to see the effectiveness of that move — the efficiencies reflect themselves in the numbers,” says Attilio. Attilio’s extensive finance background, and years working within the government IT industry, are credited with driving those results. So is his leadership. “In addition to the wealth of knowledge Rick brings to his role, we at Apptis are consistently impressed with his outstanding leadership qualities and management skills,” says Bert Notini, CEO of Apptis.

Looking to 2009, Attilio is mindful of the change ahead. “We are on the doorstep of massive change,” he says. “We have been a bit insulated in this market in the past from the macro economic issues. I think we are going to see our government clients looking to industry for even greater partnership in dealing with the changes to come.” Paradigms are going to be broken, adds Attilio, making the need for innovation even more imperative. Apptis is already rising to meet the challenge. “We have been working on various new initiatives with our service delivery teams, cloud computing as one example,” says Attilio. “We need to partner with our clients to help them execute on their missions of national importance by delivering innovative, trusted solutions at lower total costs,” he adds.

Attilio’s Tip for 2009: Have a three-year plan

While many companies have a five-year plan in place it’s probably more effective to think in terms of a three-year plan, says Attilio. “I’ve done five-year plans before but I’ve found a three-year plan to be the most optimum. The one constant is that things change, and they change continually,” he says. “It’s about balance,” adds Attilio. “You need to have a long-term strategic view of what you want to accomplish, what you want to become, and then just drive the execution phase to make it happen … at the same time, you have to be agile in order to adjust your tactical execution in your go-to market approach for optimum result,” he says.