It’s no secret these are uncertain times for many in the government contracting space. With the upcoming U.S. presidential election, many companies are holding their breath, wondering how a change in administration will affect their budgets and staff. Weathering the uncertainty is no easy task. But many of the areas top CFOs and finance executives are up for the challenge. ExecutiveBiz went looking for the Washington, D.C. area’s top 10 finance executives — some CFOs, some not, but all showcasing the kind of leadership skills and eye for strategy to move their companies forward. What we found across the board was a compelling track record for overseeing their companies continued growth, now and well into the future.

He’s only been with the CACI a little under two years but Tom Mutryn already has a lot to show for it. As executive vice president and chief financial officer and treasurer of the company, Mutryn is helping CACI stay on the fast track as an aggressive IT industry operation and consolidator in the M&A market. Under Mutryn’s watch, CACI completed four acquisitions in 2007, raising the company’s revenue total to $1.94 billion for the year. That level of financial leadership also landed Mutryn another key distinction, when he was recently named the Corporate Executive Dealmaker of the Year by the Association for Corporate Growth. “We are very proud of Tom and his exceptional accomplishments in sustaining CACI’s role as a trusted national asset to the U.S. federal government,” says CACI president and CEO Paul Confoni. “[Tom’s] essential contributions to our mergers and acquisitions have enabled us to expand the solutions we provide to help our federal clients solve their most challenging problems in defense, intelligence, homeland security, and government services.” Mutryn’s strengths with mergers and acquisitions was on prominent display with CACI’s recent purchase of Dragon Development Corp. “Tom’s leadership, savvy, credibility and professionalism under pressure was instrumental in keeping all the complicated pieces together to get the deal into the end zone,” says Bob Kipps, managing director of KippsDeSanto & Co.

Look around ManTech International Corporation and you’ll see that Kevin Phillips has played an integral role in the company’s growth and acquisitions over the past several years. Phillips brings over 18 years of experience in government contracting to his work as executive vice president and chief financial officer of ManTech, and has led many crucial aspects of its financial and organizational growth. That expertise comes backed by seven years of executive management experience with CTX Corporation, which was later acquired by ManTech in December 2002. He has also held other key roles, including controller positions with IT providers to the government. These days, ManTech is abuzz with excitement born of vision — and a strong balance sheet. “We are excited about the prospects of our business as we are operationally well positioned for continued growth in revenues and profits, supported by our strong balance sheet and cash flows,” said Bob Coleman, president and COO of ManTech in an interview last year with Fair Disclosure Wire. And since ManTech went public, focusing on high-end intelligence and mission critical support, Phillips’ financial and strategic vision is helping keep the momentum going even stronger.

What a difference two years can make. When Joe Ragan, senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer, started with GTSI in 2006, the company was experiencing a short-term period of what Ragan calls “distress.” “There was some difficulty implementing a new ERP system,” he says, adding, “we had to recover … by recapitalizing and refinancing the company.” The company went through a restatement in 2006, and restated 15 quarters of prior results. But by 2007, Ragan had already helped rebuild the company, establishing new lines of credit just as it transformed itself from a traditional government reseller of IT products into a total solutions provider. Today, GTSI has over $300 million in debt capacity — compared to nearly zero in 2006. Scott Friedlander, GTSI president and COO, credits Ragan, who has more than 20 years experience in global finance and accounting, with providing the company a “steady hand” at a time when creditors and banks were concerned about the company’s viability. “His demeanor and steady approach to solving our problems not only got us through the very challenging first 8-plus months, but has provided a financial path for us to do even better in our transformation,” says Friedlander.

Tough yet fair-minded, he’s been called the kind of professional you’d want to see across the negotiating table. With over 25 years experience in the government contracts industry, Gary Shankman has been credited with focusing on the “real value drivers” in his role as senior vice president finance and group controller of Science Applications International Corporation’s Defense Solutions Group, headquartered in McLean, Virginia. “When you see Gary at the table, you know you’re in for a tough negotiation, but one where everyone is likely to come out ahead,” says Peter K. Wong, sector director of strategic development for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. That ability to benefit all parties was evident when Science Applications International Corporation and Northrop Grumman recently restructured their AMSEC LLC joint venture. “Gary was integral in helping the teams through this complex transaction,” says Wong. “His expertise and professionalism were instrumental in our being able to pull apart a $500 million business and then successfully reintegrate the pieces back into our respective companies,” adds Wong.

When it comes to a strong background in business growth, few can beat Bernie McVey. Since he joined Northrop Grumman in 1978, McVey has steadily risen through the ranks of the company’s financial and business management sector. Among other key roles he has served in the company’s electronic systems sector as vice president and business manager for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and naval systems. Today, McVey serves as vice president of business management and chief financial officer for Northrop Grumman’s IT sector. As vice president of business management, McVey leads all aspects of the business management organization’s strategy. McVey also oversees contracting, pricing, procurement, resources planning, facilities, and an ever-crucial financial reporting and forecasting, while reporting to Northrop’s corporate CFO. “During his tenure at Northrop Grumman he has not only succeeded in business, but he is also an exceptional mentor and leader with a terrific sense of humor,” says Linda A. Mills, president of Northrop Grumman’s Information Technology (IT) sector. “I have received tremendous feedback from Bernie’s direct reports and colleagues that he constantly engages them in business decisions, thinks out of the box, challenges the status quo and is a trusted advisor … he is a vital member of Northrop Grumman’s IT’s executive organization, and is helping to ensure our organization delivers on our aggressive goals and expectations.” McVey’s sound business wisdom has been recognized beyond Northrop’s doors. Just ask T.W. Scott, vice president and CEO of Raytheon Information Solutions. “Bernie possesses a knack to quickly engage and provide solid business wisdom in a manner that is extremely agile,” says Scott. “He handles tough topics and challenges in a manner that is highly respectful and very inclusive of all audiences and situations. It is always a pleasure to have an opportunity to work with him because he gives 125 percent and strives to make a difference for customers and partners alike.”

Throughout his career, Jeff MacLauchlan has led several high-stakes initiatives for Lockheed Martin. The results speak for themselves. Among other achievements, MacLauchlan led the acquisition of 12 businesses, valued altogether at $2 billion. Serving as vice president of finance and later president of Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, MacLauchlan also oversaw the corporation’s exit activities, which generated over $2 billion in cash flow. In March 2007, MacLauchlan was tapped as vice president of finance and business operations for Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems and Global Services (IS&GS). In this role, MacLauchlan is responsible for all of IS&GS’ financial strategies, and works with the leadership team and corporate CFO to grow the business, expand market share, and improve cost competitiveness, among other responsibilities. “Jeff Maclauchlan is an exceptional leader who focuses his financial and business management expertise to ensure the success of our customers, employees and shareholders.,” says Linda Gooden, Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services.

He’s been called a “can-do” CFO, and “true professional.” Backed by 29 years experience, Steve Hughes serves as chief financial officer and executive vice president of operations for SRA International, a Fairfax- based company which focuses on providing technology and services to support homeland security, defense, and global health. Since joining the SRA team in 1981 Hughes has held a diverse range of positions including systems analyst, accounting manager, controller, vice president, and senior vice president of finance. But his most high profile role came in 1996, when he was tapped as CFO. Hughes has since been credited with overseeing SRA’s astronomical growth. “Steve has made a huge impact on SRA’s ability to execute its growth strategy, co-leading the acquisition and integration of eight companies to date,” says SRA President and CEO Stan Sloane. That professionalism is recognized beyond the halls of SRA. “I have known Steve since SRA was a $100 million company,” adds Rick Knop, Co-CEO, Windsor Group LLC, whose firm has closed several transactions with SRA, including Galaxy Scientific and ERA. “He has been a key, if not the lead, SRA executive in every major capital acquisition transaction of SRA for the past 10 years,” adds Knop.

Meet Mike Garrity, General Dynamics’ “secret weapon.” As vice president of finance and administration for General Dynamics Information Technology, Garrity oversees all facets of the Fairfax-based company’s financial, facilities and information technology sectors. “Mike Garrity balances a unique entrepreneurial instinct with a seasoned pragmatic approach to financial operations that make him an extraordinary CFO,” says Ray Whitehead, vice president of business development at General Dynamics. In his current role, Garrity oversees the company’s ISO-9001 Registered Quality Management System. Beforehand, he was the program manager for GTE Government Systems Corporation, and the contract compliance council chairman for the organization, Cost Accounting Standards.

Over the last eight years, BAE Systems, a $14 billion global aerospace and defense company, has grown by leaps and bound — ten times, to be exact. And BAE credits Bob Murphy, senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer for the company’s U.S.-based operating groups, for much of that growth. “Bob’s contribution as a CFO and sector president has been a significant factor in BAE Systems’ growth,” says Walter Havenstein, president and CEO of BAE. An active participant in all merger and acquisitions at the company, Murphy led the acquisition of the former Armor Holdings last year — at more than $4 billion, it became the largest acquisition by BAE Systems to date. Murphy first came to BAE in 1999 as vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Prior to his current position, Murphy served as president of BAE Systems Technology Solutions Sector, a provider of technical and professional services solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense, federal civilian government, and Homeland Security sectors.
Marilyn Crouther has come a long way since her days as an accountant for an oil and gas company in Houston. In 1989, she began working for EDS, a global business and technology services company, in Plano, Texas. The rest, as they say, is history. Beginning as an analyst with the Corporate Shared Financial Services group, she spent the next eight years in various EDS industries, in positions such as financial analyst and manager. In 1997, she rose to the level of strategic business unit controller for the EDS Health Care Industry organization, then moved to the Government Group in Herndon as industry controller for Medical Information Solutions. Then, in 1999, she became CFO for EDS’ U.S. government business. “Marilyn plays a critical role in my organization,” says Dennis Stolkey, vice president and general manager, EDS U.S. Government and Public Sector. “She is an outstanding person, a trusted advisor and a highly valued business partner who contributes significantly to the strategic direction, growth and success of our U.S. Government organization.” Somehow Crouther also finds time to volunteer for worthy causes, such as the Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund.

“Marilyn is a fantastic example of a business community leader dedicating her time in such a heartfelt way,” says Susie Kay, founder and president of HDSF. “Marilyn recently shared her story of life perseverance and dedication as a featured speaker in our monthly mentoring session … from her days as a student at Mississippi State University through her climb up the EDS corporate ladder, it was indeed such an honor to have Marilyn again giving up her time to speak to our future Washington, D.C., leaders and community members — showing our students that their hard work and perseverance will impact their lives and successes in the future.”

From strategy to service, dedication to varied experience, every one of these executives exemplifies the strengths needed to keep the area’s businesses strong. ExecutiveBiz salutes their hard work, and is proud to have them on a list of top government contracting finance professionals in the D.C. area.

Rohit Bhargava, who leads the marketing team at Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence, is the author of the new marketing book Personality Not Included, a unique guide for organizations on becoming more authentic. He is frequently featured in media worldwide and speaks internationally on the importance of personality in business. And on June 26, executives throughout the area will have a chance to hear Rohit speak about the latest trends in marketing communications and social media at Digital Media Conference, to be held Thursday, June 26, 2008 at the Ritz-Carlton in Tyson’s Corner, VA.

Tell us a little about your background.

Rohit Bhargava: My background is mostly agency based. I’ve worked for a number of different marketing agencies and I spent five years working in Australia. I have worked across a lot of different industries doing marketing strategy. The focus has usually been on interactive work, and I have experience working at an ad agency as well as a PR agency. Before that I worked in a small business and did the start-up thing as well.

What are some social media or other tools your clients, both in the government space and beyond, are starting to embrace?

Rohit Bhargava: Blogs are certainly the most visible. I think that when it comes to social media what a lot of people don’t think about is that it can take many forms of people sharing opinions online, whether it’s a blog or something as obvious and ubiquitous as an Amazon review. All of that is social media to a sense because people are sharing their thoughts and opinions and ideas with one another and being influenced by that. I think that no matter where you go online, whether you are in government or whether you are just online surfing, you’re exposed to all of these opinions and that is what we’re seeing out there.

Tell us about your book. How long did it take you to envision and write it?

Rohit Bhargava: End to end the book process was about a year. What I ended up focusing on was not so much about social media or blogs or anything as specific as that, but something which I saw as a broader trend in business of all sorts, which is this idea that personality matters. Personality is the way that brands interact with their customers and it’s the way that ideas come to life for people. Whether it is a brand in the traditional sense or whether it’s any sort of organization or entity that people need to have some sort of belief or interaction with.

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A few years back, Blue Canopy Group caught a break. Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) needed a partner to provide an integrator tool for a lucrative contract with the Environmental Protection Agency. Blue Canopy was a small firm, and faced the challenge shared by many under-the-radar subcontractors: getting noticed by large system integrators and contractors like CSC.

Blue Canopy, as its president Jeff White told it to FCW, caught a break because a CSC executive recalled that Blue Canopy had done great work for a previous employer. One thing led to another and Blue Canopy snagged a five-year contract for the EPA. And while the end result was favorable, one has to wonder if Blue Canopy would have had a chance if not for the executive’s memory; not because they weren’t qualified for the work and available to staff it, but because Blue Canopy would not have known CSC had this need and for their part CSC would not have known Blue Canopy could fill it.

For the outside observer tracking the staggering dollar figures that flow annually between the government, large contractors and small businesses, it is easy to overlook the inefficiencies inherent to the system. Agency dollars unspent, small business staffing resources left idle on the bench, and the inability of large providers to identify teaming partners outside their subcontractor network – as was the case in the example above – were all pain points White witnessed first hand from the time he founded Blue Canopy in 2001 to the day he sold it five years later.

He knew there had to be a better way. Enter mySBX.

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Looking for a recommendation for your summer reading list? Be sure to pick up a copy of Megacommunities: How Leaders of Government, Business and Non-Profits Can Tackle Today’s Global Challenges Together, by Mark Gerencser, Reginald Van Lee, Fernando Napolitano, and Christopher Kelly. These four vice-presidents from Booz Allen Hamilton explain how tri-sector leadership — business, government, and nonprofits — work together to reach solutions for today’s thorniest problems. The book, based on interviews with over 100 leaders from around the world including Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, and Jody Williams, shows how a mega-community approach is countering devastating health issues, conserving the environment and natural resources, and helping communities to grow and compete. Check out this excerpt:

Our increasingly globalized and interconnected world is creating issues that are too large for any one authority to solve alone. We are evolving to more and more complex network structures where interdependencies lead to a much higher degree of uncertainty in decision making. And those decisions must be made quickly due to increased connectivity among and between diverse stakeholders. Large-scale issues of unprecedented complexity represent both critical problems and significant opportunities. The situation calls for a new type of tri-sector leadership in which government, business, and civil society work together in a coordinated manner. A megacommunities approach helps to unravel these complexities.

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This is an exciting time for Vangent. Since it celebrated its one-year anniversary this past February, the company has been embarking on a productive year chockful of new goals, aspirations, and strategies. Mac Curtis, president and CEO of Vangent, has been communicating that vision to employees ever since. Over the past year, he has spent a significant amount of time on the road, meeting with employees and discussing Vangent’s overall mission.

What are you working on these days?

Mac Curtis: Vangent is continuing to grow, and we are improving the way we position ourselves in the market. A lot of people think we are just a customer relationship management (CRM) contact center company, but that is only one aspect of our business. Granted, we are the sole provider of the nation’s largest citizen contact management programs, 1-800-Medicare, but what really separates us from other companies are the people, processes and technology behind the scenes. When we talk about Vangent’s “design, build and operate” approach, we create and implement the systems that allow mission-critical processes to function.

We celebrated our one-year anniversary this past February as Vangent. It has been an interesting year, to say the least. When we were sold by Pearson, we had to take the time to hone our own goals, aspirations and strategies. After we decided where we wanted to take the business, the next step was communicating our vision for the future to our employees. I have spent a lot of time on the road visiting with employees around the country, and when I meet with them, we talk about the company’s mission and vision. This is an exciting time for Vangent, and the employees know it. They get charged up when they see we are working hard to brand Vangent.

What’s happened in the past year, in particular?

Mac Curtis: Sure. The sales process was pretty involved. We reached an agreement in November 2006 with Veritas and shortly after that, we went on the road to sell bonds needed to finance the deal. On February 14, 2007, we officially became Vangent and began the process of transitioning from Pearson. That meant bringing on a wide variety of services that Pearson previously provided, such as a human resources information system, as well as network and infrastructure support. We also had to put treasury, tax and the general counsel functions in place — all the things you need to have to be a stand-alone business. We made some strategic organizational changes and brought on new leaders to build our health solutions business and our civilian, defense and national security divisions. We focused on building the right management team that can take Vangent from a run rate of $600M to a billion dollars and eventually a public company.

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Shiv Krishnan, chief executive of Vienna, Va.-based Indus, came to the United States light in the pocket ($500) but heavy on dreams for a better education and opportunities. In recounting his story for the Washington Post recently, Krishnan spoke of how Indus - 15 years after it was founded - is now approaching $100 million in revenue.

From humble origins to a leading provider of Federal IT services, Indus took another step forward in its growth plans by announcing the hiring of Carleton Jones as vice chairman. Jones, a veteran Federal IT executive, will be charged with providing strategic guidance for Indus going forward, and will work hand-in-hand with Krishnan for areas including business development and in guiding the company through both organic and acquisitive growth.

Jones formerly served as CEO of Multimax and president of Sysorex Information Systems.

With one year under his belt as CEO of CACI, Paul Cofoni already has a lot to show for it: CACI has added $400 million of business in the last year, about half of through acquisitions, the other half through organic growth. “This is a company that has grown so fast, from being a $400 million company at the turn of the century, to being a $2.4 billion company eight years later — that’s a sixfold increase in size,” says Cofoni. In an exclusive talk with ExecutiveBiz, Cofoni talks about this remarkable growth, and his personal passion for bridging intelligence and security services in the continued war on terrorism.

ExecutiveBiz: Let’s talk about your first year of being a CEO of CACI. What were your biggest accomplishment and challenges, and how did you overcome any challenges that you face?

Paul Cofoni: Jack and I had been working and planning together for two years prior to this transition, so when it actually occurred, it was not a big deal because we had been gradually shifting over different responsibilities from him to me. So the first year really feels like the third year for me because since I’ve been here, Jack and I have had a great partnership in terms of leadership and the transition of leadership.

In terms of our accomplishments, we’re finishing up a really good year. We had a couple of tough years before that, so we have just turned the corner and are starting now to show good growth and profitability. We’re feeling really good about that. The business is growing nicely. We’ve added $400M of business to the company in the last year, about half of which has come through acquisitions and half of which has come through organic growth. I feel very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to grow at $400 million, which is the size of a lot of companies — in fact, bigger than a lot of mid-sized companies — and next year we have to do it again. Every year now we have to grow at $400-$500 million, add $400-$500 million to the business.

I am proud of the team that we’ve got. We have a nice combination of legacy personnel at CACI, such as Jody Brown, Bill Fairl, and other excellent people, and we’ve complemented them with others who have some experience working at large-scale Tier 1 contracting organizations, and who are able to help us do things a little differently as we grow into the Tier 1 role. We’ve worked very hard on organizing ourselves to focus on our very best and most distinctive solutions, or our functional core competencies, that we want to leverage those across all our clients. We’ve organized our solutions in a way so that they are more accessible to all of the company and all of our clients, and that is very important going forward.

Secondly, we’ve organized ourselves in a way to be account-focused, or client-focused. We have plans for each of our clients, whether they are at the level of the Army Materiel Command or NAVSEA, or SPAWAR, and we have developed plans that are focused on long-terms needs of those customers. We call this account planning, and it’s a brand new thing here. We’re teaching our team how to do it, and they’re doing very well. This gives us a long-term view of the client, where they’re going, and what they’re issues and problems will be. And it helps us figure out where we can place ourselves in the solution of these problems, how we can help the client vision-forward, to solve their problems going forward. It also gives the client a single way to view us as a company, and it aligns our resources to that client so that anybody that is participating with that client is aware of what our plan is for that client.

These are pretty dramatic changes. This is a company that has grown so fast, from being a $400 million company at the turn of the century, to being a $2.4 billion company eight years later. When you think about it, that’s a sixfold increase in size. In that period we’ve gone through a transformation, assimilating people from other companies, but also going through a transformation from small company to a large company. And there are things that large companies do a little differently than small companies and those are the things we’ve been focusing on.

I was fortunate that we’ve had just a great year this year, but the work that we’ve been doing in the last three years is what really set up the good year we’re having now. And we think next year can be equally good.

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You may know him from his “wireless revolution” commercial on TV. But on Thursday, June 5, more than 200 members of the Potomac Officers Club and their guests had the opportunity to see Sprint CEO Dan Hesse up close and in person. Sponsored by Hogan & Hartson, the intimate luncheon kicked off with a few words of introduction by Jim Garrettson, founder and president of Potomac Officers Club. Hesse, for his part, didn’t miss a beat. Before addressing the audience at the Ritz Carlton in Tyson’s Corner, he straightened his tie, leaned into the microphone, and said, “I hate to use the line, ‘Can you hear me now but … ‘”

Customers and industry experts have been hearing Hesse loud and clear in the year since he took over as CEO of Sprint. In that time, he has helped turn around a lagging customer base and address various other challenges resulting from a merger with Nextel that had been overseen by his predecessor.

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This is National Health IT Week, an annual forum where public and private sector organizations unite to promote the common goal of interoperable health IT adoption. National Health IT Week brings together key healthcare constituents — information technology firms, healthcare providers, payers, pharmaceutical/biotech companies, government agencies, industry/professional associations, and consumer protection groups — in a unifying call for action.

In the following Q&A, Aneesh Chopra, Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, shares the latest on the importance of Health IT and why it’s so essential to ensuring Virginia’s future. In 2007, the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society awarded Secretary Chopra its 2007 State Leadership Advocacy Award for Virginia’s innovative approach to the topic.

You are serving as the Honorary National Co-Chairman for National Health IT Week. What does that entail?

Aneesh Chopra: This week, a broad coalition of public, private and non-profit leaders gathered in Washington, DC to bring focus to an important lever in our fight to improve our nation’s healthcare system – the transformative power of IT. I was humbled to serve as honorary co-chair and am pleased to report three advances in Governor Kaine’s Health IT strategy.

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In his classic work describing the state of the Chief Technology Officer discipline ”The Role of the CTO”, Tom Berray of Cabot Consultants articulates four models of CTOs:

• The Infrastructure Manager
• The Big Thinker
• The Technology Visionary and Operations Manager
• The External-facing Technologist

These well defined models were based on discussions with hundreds of technologists as well as written surveys. It remains the definitive work on CTO roles, and has been referenced by some of the greats, including the personal blog of Amazon CTO Werner Vogels. Werner writes there: “I believe Tom Berray’s quadrant gives the best framework for reasoning about what makes CTOs successful.” I have to agree.

As a CTO, I immediately appreciated Tom’s groundbreaking work in describing the community, since it helped me talk with people about my own role. Too frequently people misunderstand what a CTO does, in part because CTOs perform different roles in different enterprises. Ambiguity can impede effectiveness so the clarity of this model has been very helpful.

Ambiguity over the role can also contribute to challenges for organization seeking a new CTO, which leads to another important aspect of Tom’s work. He provides a mapping of CTO roles to organizational needs in a way that can help companies determine the best type of CTO for their needs.

If you are preparing a search for a CTO, a study of Tom’s framework can help provide context which can ensure you are looking for the right set of skills. If you already have an executive on your team responsible for technology strategy, you may want to ask them if they are familiar with this study, since it may help them in their dialog with others over their role.

Bob Gourley is the co-founder and CTO of Crucial Point LLC and is the former CTO of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Bob blogs on enterprise IT at CTOvision.com