Growth & Ownership Strategies Conference to Address A/E Industry’s Three Biggest Challenges

Growth & Ownership Strategies Conference to Address A/E Industry’s Three Biggest Challenges

June 10, 2013
After several years of uneven growth, the signs of a sustainable recovery are finally emerging for A/E organizations, however, there are numerous long-term structural issues that remain. Drawing on our engagements and interactions with hundreds of executives across the country, this year’s Growth & Ownership Strategies Conference, scheduled for November 6-8 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida will focus on the three biggest challenges facing A/E leaders today:

“Reinvigorating Our Growth” – If your organization has been chalking up double-digit growth rates the last few years, consider yourselves in select company!  However, for the vast majority of firms, it’s been a continued “mixed-bag” of industry performance. Leaders are managing their way through up and down spurts while waiting for the broader economic recovery to arrive. Given a relentless competitive environment, many leaders are simply resolved to “ride it out” while others joke that “flat is the new growth” in terms of top-line expectations.

Our Conference tackles this challenge head-on by offering insights and strategies to renewing growth in a slow economy.  Attendees will learn how to: instill a culture that drives firm wide performance; understand what drives client’s expectations and perceptions; pursue “win-win” mergers and acquisitions; interpret the macroeconomic outlook for the U.S. economy and A/E industry; and revamp business development programs that are more proactive and results-oriented.

“Assessing Our Ownership Transition Alternatives” – For many A/E firms, a short-term survivability focus has pushed longer-term ownership transition and retirement planning further and further off. The reality today is that a large percentage of firms of all shapes and sizes have ownership profiles that defy logic.  Many are “top-heavy” with principals in their 50s and 60s who own a large majority of the stock. There simply aren’t enough 30- and 40-year-olds ready, willing, and able to buy these senior owners out in a coordinated process that won’t result in a decade-long (or longer) sell-down.  Given the demographic shifts impacting the industry’s workforce, it’s becoming evident that effective ownership transition planning, from monetizing assets and unlocking wealth to perpetuating the organization and creating opportunities for a new generation, are critical to the overall health of the design industry.

Attendees will discover, through panel discussions and interactive breakout sessions, various ownership transition models that align with their culture and shareholder objectives.  This includes maximizing current performance through a critical assessment of existing ownership models, incentive compensation practices, and tax ramifications.  And if this is your sole focus, plan on attending the pre-conference Ownership Transition Workshop on Wednesday afternoon.

“Preparing Our Next Generation of Leaders” – Many executives readily admit that recruiting, retaining, and motivating the next generation of leaders is their biggest worry.   Leadership succession is becoming a huge structural challenge for our industry, and many firms simply do not have younger principals with the skills and business acumen ready and available to lead in the future.  And despite the large number of A/E professionals seeking new opportunities, firms are still busier than ever trying to find those elusive “right people” for their organizations short on emerging leaders.

The event will explore new methods A/E firms are adopting to attract and retain talent.  Participants will also hear from distinguished speakers and CEOs on transformational leadership tactics, including fostering team loyalty, employee engagement, project effectiveness, market differentiation, and becoming an employer of choice.

So, on behalf of all of us at ROG + Partners, we cordially invite you to join us to be part of the only annual conference which gathers together leaders of successful architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms throughout the country with the goal of showcasing the most effective strategies for achieving growth, improving profitability, and building real and sustainable value.

We’ve brought together an unparalleled faculty of leading speakers, sponsors, and panelists in order to provide attendees with unique insight, new ideas, and tactical information to help their organizations work smarter.  The spouse-friendly program also includes a wide variety of opportunities for unwinding and networking, including a golf outing at the Greg Norman designed Tiburón Golf Club and a group fishing charter out of the Port-O-Call Marina.

90% of past attendees rated this Conference as excellent! Register by June 14th and receive the best conference pricing available.  If you have questions, or would prefer to be invoiced, contact Ashley Cristman – acristman@rog-partners.com.

About the Author

Steve Gido specializes in corporate financial advisory services with a focus on mergers and acquisitions. Steve has assisted architecture, engineering, environmental consulting and construction firms of all sizes across North America achieve their growth or liquidity goals through successful mergers & acquisitions. Steve has over 15 years of investment banking experience and holds the chartered financial analyst (CFA) designation from the CFA Institute.

sgido@rog-partners.com
p: 617.274.8051
m: 202.412.6882
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