Briefs
March 2007
ACG Portland Market Research Results
You spoke. We listened. Research reveals ways ACG Portland can be more responsive to member needs.
ACG Portland, with the assistance of Blue Research, conducted one-on-one interviews with corporate leaders last October and November to find out what they thought about the chapter. Specifically, we sought the answers to three questions: • What are the differences between active, marginal and potential chapter members? • How can we access the unmet needs and perceptions of ACG Portland among leaders of mid-market companies? • How can we increase the value ACG Portland delivers to members and to the business community? existing markets. • A third anticipate growing through merger or acquisition (planned or opportunistic). • Few are focused purely on growing market segment share with existing product lines. Half say a top priority is internal: acquire skills, restructure their organization, decrease costs or fulfill demand. Unmet needs to tackle these priorities vary across the executives interviewed: • One in three say learning from peers that have faced similar challenges will be helpful. • Finding the right people with the right skills is considered a challenge by about one-third. • Almost one in four say employee training is critical to better address business objectives. • Few need greater access to capital. Exposure to VC, investor or lending community is not a need. ACG Portland is perceived to have a distinct persona represented most commonly as a “Lexus sedan.” • Positive attributes include: reputation for quality, high-end, solid, reliable and well established. • Negative attributes include: lack excitement and diversity, “behind the times,” and button-down image. The desired persona for ACG Portland is best represented by a “Porsche Cayenne.” • More modern, solves a problem, higher power, practical, solid and with pizzazz. Research identified six opportunities to deliver more value: 1) accelerate growth, 2) improve profitability, 3) be applicable, 4) be educational, 5) global focus on diverse membership, and 6) be differentiated and innovative. After reviewing the research, the board embraced it as the path forward for ACG Portland. More on the research next month.
Results
Nearly all local business leaders said growth is a top priorty. However, how this priority is addressed varies. • Most plan to grow by entering new markets or launching new products in
April 10 Program: How to Restart Growth
Tim Leatherman and Peter Arezzini on partnering to develop a successful growth strategy
• You said you want real insight into the development of the growth strategy that the company presenting is successfully implementing. Join in the conversation between Tim Leatherman, founder and former CEO of Leatherman Tool Group, and Peter Arezzini, principle of Arezzini Associates, the key players who partnered to develop Leatherman’s successful strategy for market growth. • The research also indicated that ACG members want to come away with fresh, functional and practical lessons from ACG events. So, the delivery for this session will be an interactive discussion between Tim Leatherman, Peter Arezzini and you. You will have opportunities to ask questions throughout as each chapter
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of the story unfolds. That way you can make it applicable to your particular needs and take home ideas you can use.
Peter Arezzini
Peter Arezzini has been a President/Chief Operating Officer for 15 years. Long accountable for developing and implementing market-based strategies for growth, he recently starting consulting others.
Tim Leatherman and Peter Arezzini
Based on the market research mentioned above, ACG Portland designed the April presentation program to address more of what you would like to see. For instance: • The top priority cited in the market research was to provide insight into how to enter new markets or launch new products in existing markets. We believe April’s session is square on target with this need.
Tim Leatherman
Tim, a native Oregonian, received his BSME from Oregon State, then held a variety of jobs, including positions as an English teacher and a helicopter mechanic. Time spent traveling abroad ultimately led to the Leatherman multipurpose tool concept.
March 13 Program: AAA
John Porter, president and CEO of AAA Oregon/Idaho will speak at the March 13 program about the successes and challenges of growing a 102-year old business with a well-branded name under a unique model as a tax-paying but not-for-profit business.
New Chapter Member
For the last five years, Dan Boverman has been part of a specialized group of experienced CEOs, COOs and CFOs employed by Glass & Associates, Inc. They focus on assessing critical situations and developing and executing strategic, operational and financial turnaround plans; debt and equity financings; and mergers and acquisitions; working closely with investors, lenders, boards of directors and senior management teams. In many cases, Dan and his associates are appointed officers of the companies they work with. In other cases, they operate at the executive management and board level when technically in an advisory
About the speaker
John holds the position of president and Chief Executive Officer at AAA Oregon/Idaho. In this role John directs the activities of the Club, which provides a variety of services to more than 680,000 AAA members in Oregon and Idaho. Those services include Emergency Road Service, Travel Services, and Insurance and Financial Services. In addition, the Club represents members in public policy matters, actively participating in the legislative processes in both Salem and Boise. John is member of the Board of Directors of AAA Oregon/Idaho. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Commerce Insurance Company, a property and casualty insurance company based in Columbus, Ohio. He is a member of the SOLV Founders Circle, is a Trustee of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (a non-profit research organization), a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Oregon State University Alumni Association and is a member of AAA National’s Public and Government Affairs and Strategic Business Committees. He is also the president of the Tualatin Country Club. John has the following educational background: • Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program • Washington State University Master of Business Administration • Portland State University Master of Taxation • Oregon State University Bachelor of Science (Business) John is a native Oregonian, having been raised in Tillamook County on the coast. He and his wife Keely reside in Tualatin.
Welcome, New Chapter Members!
Daniel Boverman, Director—Huron Consulting Group Patrick Criteser, President/CEO—Coffee Bean International Meetings Held second Tuesday of the month at the Downtown Embassy Suites Hotel, 319 SW Pine Street, Portland. Registration is at 5:30 p.m., cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from 5:30 to 6:20, presentation runs from 6:20 to 7:30.
For membership information or other questions, contact:
Patricia Fuller, Executive Director P.O. Box 4272, Portland, Oregon 97208-4272 503-768-4299; Fax: 503-768-4294; Email: acgportland@acg.org
For comments or submissions to ACG Briefs contact:
capacity for legal reasons. Glass & Associates was recently acquired by Huron Consulting Group, a public company with more than 1,000 employees. Dan is currently the case director for the very successful turnaround of a 120 year-old private manufacturing company with eight locations and annual sales of approximately $180 million. He is serving in a CFO capacity for that company as well. Other significant turnaround assignments during the last five years include interim CFO of Tiro Industries, Inc.; similar roles while legally in an advisory capacity at Rebel Rents, Inc.; Cerwin Vega, Inc.; a retailer with approximately $250 million in annual sales; and an investment banking role for an agricultural company with approximately $1.3 billion in sales. Dan’s prior background includes investment banking, private equity investing, public accounting, and as CFO or a director in a variety of industries, including several very successful companies. Dan was raised in Portland and returned in 1997 after working in San Francisco for 15 years. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration, 1982, from U.C. Berkley, and is a CPA and a Certified Turnaround Professional designee. ACG Portland is pleased to provide daily Portland metropolitan area business news courtesy of The Business Journal at www. acg.org/portland/bizjournal/main.asp
Gary Frayn, Editor: 503-416-7828; gfrayn@airadvice.com Chapter Officers President: Frank Helle Finance-Treasurer: Spencer Brown VP Marketing: Fred Stockton VP Programs: Scott South VP Communications: Gary Frayn VP Membership: Rick Hawkins
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