CFOs Share Thoughts on the State of the Economy at IL
Leadership/Darden/McGuireWoods’ Quarterly Strategic
Roundtable
Top Washington-Area Chief Financial Officers Optimistic on Prospects for 2010
January 13, 2010 09:03 AM Eastern Time
MCLEAN, Va.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--On January 7, 2010, a select group of the Washington, D.C. area’s top CFOs
third in a series of quarterly Strategic CFO Roundtables organized by ILEX Leadership Associates, LLC, facilitated by Prof. Ken
University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business, and hosted by the McGuireWoods LLP law firm.
At previous gatherings in May and September last year, the CFOs shared experiences and lessons learned in their roles as the top fi
leading corporations. At this meeting, the Roundtable members discussed the results of a snapshot survey modeled after the nationw
Outlook” survey undertaken recently by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and CFO magazine. The snapshot offers a re
on the business climate in the first quarter of 2010.
In the survey, the Roundtable respondents expressed greater optimism about the financial prospects of their own companies than di
group taking the Fuqua/CFO survey. On average, Roundtable members quantified their level of optimism as 75 on a scale of 100, a
62.5 average for the nationwide group. And while the respondents’ optimism for the U.S. economy as a whole measured virtually id
the nationwide group (slightly more optimistic than last quarter), the local Roundtable members also evaluated their employees’ mor
5-point scale) more favorably than the nationwide CFO respondents (2.9).
“The survey findings and our discussion preliminarily identified a ‘Washington effect’ for our regional economy,” said Jane‐Scott Ca
of the event and a Principal at ILEX Leadership Associates. “Our regional economy is bolstered by the federal government and the
educated workforce. We are less affected and more resilient in economic downturns and thus, we are more optimistic about growth
companies and empl