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Present: Senior vice president and chief financial officer of Vangent
Career highlights: Served as CFO of American Management Systems before its purchase by CGI; CFO of Aspect Software Corporation in San Jose, Calif., which Reagan sold in 2005; moved to Deltek, which he helped take public; then, Vangent in September 2008.
Personal: Reagan lives in Ashburn, Va., and enjoys sailing his boat on the Chesapeake Bay on weekends.
2010 Tips:
- Retool your team. “I think we“™re still a year off before the unemployment picture becomes meaningfully better. For CFOs, that means it“™s a great time to retool your organization. There are some great people out there with a private sector or corporate background. This is an opportunity to bring onboard strong, experienced people who“™ve been downsized out of organizations for planning and analysis, for example.“
- Be on your game. “CFOs need to more effectively assess the bid pipeline so they can more appropriately predict what future revenues will be, especially in a more competitive environment. Protests are more frequent, and as a result, contract awards are more commonly overturned. You need to help the business and adjust accordingly to these realities.“
Full Interview:
ExecutiveBiz: What have your top priorities been since coming on board in September 2008?
Jim Reagan: Two things. First, to continue the company“™s path toward being a publicly traded stock. Right now, we“™re a private company. However, we do public filings every quarter because we have public debt. The second thing is spending the right amount of time adding value to the company“™s international operations, which complements our US federal government business.
ExecutiveBiz: What can you tell us about the international markets you“™ve been pursuing?
Jim Reagan: [Vangent President & CEO] Mac Curtis and I have been spending a good deal of our time on the international side of the business. We have a contract in Mexico that generates identification cards for what is effectively the equivalent of the Social Security Administration. As our recent earnings call indicated, we“™re delivering what we“™re supposed to. Now, the Mexican government needs to focus on generating demand among eligible Mexican citizens for the ID cards, an effort we“™re also supporting.
ExecutiveBiz: In your U.S. federal government business, your work on the Clash for Clunkers program was a success. What other government projects can we expect?
Jim Reagan: We“™re going to be hiring about 4,000 people in the first quarter to staff the 2010 United States Census that we“™re working on with the U.S. Department of Commerce. The bulk of the people for the 2010 Census will be in Phoenix, and Sandy, Utah, which is right outside of Salt Lake City, and Lawrence, Kansas. The US Census is another example of how Vangent, as part of our DNA, can move quickly to mobilize a workforce to address a high-profile, mission critical challenge for our customers.
ExecutiveBiz: What might these efforts spell for your customers in 2010?
Jim Reagan: These and other projects speak to the “˜big picture“™ value we continue to bring to our customers: helping them deal with their own customers, that is, citizens, more effectively and at a lower cost.
