Follow the Leaders
Area CEOs 2011 Outlook is Positive
For the second straight quarter, CEOs in central Virginia have an optimistic view of business and the economy in the coming six months. Top executives predict an increase in sales and also say they are more likely to hire new employees, according to the Fourth Quarter 2010 CEO Economic Outlook Survey.
Additional findings revealed that CEOs are continuing to forecast an increase in their company’s capital spending, as well as predicting less of a decrease in sales than they expected during the third quarter.
The Virginia Council of CEOs and University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business jointly conduct the quarterly economic outlook survey, which helps central Virginia companies plan for growth.
“There’s once again optimism about the future, and we are excited to see this trend continue,” said Scot McRoberts, executive director of the Virginia Council of CEOs. “We have found that this data is consistently a good indicator of current market conditions and what business owners and their peers are thinking about in regards to future trends and opportunities.”
The following survey results, from the fourth quarter and the third quarter, show projections for the next six months for sales, spending and employment:
| 2010 Q4 | 2010 Q3 | ||||||
| Increase | No
Change |
Decrease | Increase | No
Change |
Decrease | ||
| How do you expect your company’s sales to change in the next six months? | 70.4% | 22.5% | 7.0% | 72.0% | 18.7% | 9.3% | |
| How do you expect your company’s U.S. capital spending to change in the next six months? | 33.8% | 50.7% | 15.5% | 46.7% | 33.3% | 20.0% | |
| How do you expect your company’s U.S. employment to change in the next six months? | 52.1% | 40.8% | 7.0% | 52.0% | 40.0% | 8.0% | |
The council and the Robins School collected responses from 70 business owners and CEOs of companies in central Virginia with more than $1 million of annual revenue. The data was compared to the third quarter survey, which consisted of 73 participants. Multiple industries are represented in the sample (i.e., construction, manufacturing, finance & insurance, and retail).
“Similar to the trend we saw from the third quarter of 2010, we continue to see lower percentages of CEOs reporting pessimism about future sales, capital expenditures and employment,” said Jeff Pollack, assistant professor of management at the Robins School, who calculated the survey results. “These fourth quarter data show that more CEOs are anticipating increases, or at least no changes, relative to past data which showed they were predicting future decreases across all categories.”
Pollack adapted the survey from the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs leading U.S. companies that conducts a similar survey nationally.
The results also provided a perspective of the economic outlook index, which is based on businesses’ projected six-month sales, spending and employment figures.
Economic Outlook Index
| Survey Date | CEO Economic Outlook Index |
| Q4 2010 | 92.27 |
| Q3 2010 | 94.47 |
| Q2 2010 | 81.33 |
The Virginia Council of CEOs is continuing to expand the survey beyond its membership offering any area business owners whose companies gross at least $1 million in annual revenue the opportunity to participate. If enough businesses participate, the council will provide survey results by industry. Participation is free, and all participants will receive copies of the survey data.
Business owners and CEOs who would like to participate in the next survey should contact McRoberts at info at vaceos dot org.
Mayhem or Disruption?
You know that “Mayhem” guy on the Allstate commercials? He shows up and unexpected, bad stuff happens. And then the insurance company helps you pay for it, right?
There is a different kind of mayhem that has a positive role in business. I call it disruption. It leads us to the possibility of a positive outcome. And that is where I am headed.
I ran into Patrick Morin back in October at a Panera. I had not seen him in a dozen or more years. As I waited for my appointment to show, Patrick “disrupted” me for about ten minutes. Somehow, in that short encounter, he had me thinking differently about my business and frankly, a little scared. More importantly, I have followed up on those thoughts and have changed my thinking on my work – with positive results.
Well, Patrick and I have had a few more disruptive conversations since then, and I was able to convince him to bring his message to the Virginia Council of CEOs this month. His talk “The Art of Disruption” is a must-see for any business owner who needs to break into new markets, change the company’s culture, get more out of people – or just avoid mayhem.
For more on Patrick’s January 12 talk, see http://jan12vaceos.eventbrite.com/
CEO Profile: David Ingram
Like many VACEOs members, the term “entrepreneur” describes David Ingram best. He started his first business in high school at age 16, bought a competitor and then sold the combined business while in college. After college, he succeeded in running sales and operations organizations for both privately and publicly held companies, but was destined start his own business again. In 2001 he started Capital TechSearch to leverage his years of experience making the right and wrong hiring decisions to help his clients make the best possible decisions in building their most important asset — their people.
Capital TechSearch is a world-class technical recruiting firm supplying organizations with information technology talent on a contract, contract-to-hire, or permanent basis. Over the past nine and a half years Capital TechSearch has earned an outstanding reputation for effective sourcing, deployment and management of key talent for some of the regions’ top private and public companies primarily serving the health care, web services, and government space. This strength led Inc. Magazine to recognize Capital TechSearch as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America for the past three years running.
Ingram’s first book, “15 Bedtime Stories That Keep Entrepreneurs Awake at Night,” was recently released and features stories from his 15 years of entrepreneurship. Many members of the VACEOS shared their stories and gave Dave great suggestions on how to make the book even better. Learn more at www.15bedtimestories.com.
Dave has been a member of the VA Council of CEOs for four years. He is on the board and has served on the membership, sponsorship and retreat committees. He is currently the 2011 CEO Retreat chairman. Dave gives the VA Council of CEOs credit for helping him make it through the ups and downs or running a business. He calls his CEO Roundtable his “oasis” – a place of refuge to work on his business, to get perspective and inspiration.
A graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, Dave frequently lectures on business topics. He and wife Meridith and their children live in Richmond.
Firms Vie for 2011 Sponsorships
The VA Council of CEOs has introduced its 2011 Sponsorship Program. Click here to see current sponsors and download the 2011 package.
Council sponsors enjoy access to VACEOs unique, CEO-only events and meetings. Sponsors are limited in number and enjoy our safe-haven culture, where they mix with CEOs as colleagues and partners, building relationships first. Sponsors are selected based on the resource needs of the council.
There are currently only two openings for 2011 sponsorship, but expect them to fill within the next few weeks. Contact council executive director Scot McRoberts at 804-360-2644 to learn more.
The “Academy Awards of Business”
Entrepreneurs and CEOs of fast-growing businesses gathered in Washington D.C. over the last few days for the Inc. 500 Conference, celebrating the 2010 Inc. 500|5000 Awards. Ten of the sixteen Richmond area winners are VACEOs members. Congratulations to all.
Rossi, Morton & Fitzgerald smile for the paparazzi
Steve Kimball, Dave Ingram, Jo Ann Rossi and Jim Fitzgerald
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