His name is synonymous with personal finance. For over two decades, Knight Kiplinger has been been known as one of America’s most respected economic journalists and business forecasters. This past Thursday — as the government reported more unemployment claims had been filed that week than at any other time in the past 25 years —  members of the Potomac Officers Club gathered to hear Kiplinger’s take on what’s ahead for the U.S. economy.

First, relax, said Kiplinger. Comparisons to the Great Depression should be taken with a grain of salt. He offered this bit of perspective: The economy has seen tough times before — the recessions of 1973-1975 and the early 1980s. Kiplinger predicted the unemployment rate would climb to 9 percent over the coming year, still below the 11 percent jobless rate that accompanied 1982. Meanwhile, all eyes will turn to Washington and the money will flow — kind of like “the girl who can’t say ‘no,’” quipped Kiplinger.

Where does the government contracting community stand in the midst of this challenging economic climate — not to mention the upcoming change in administration? The Washington area will be a major beneficiary of the stimulus, said Kiplinger, adding, government contracting is too technical and too entrenched for the government to take back the functions it used to perform in-house. But, he added, Washington is not recession proof and will benefit from “emergency thinking.”

After his remarks, Kiplinger received a POC Star award from Jim Garrettson, founder of The Potomac Officers Club (right). Since 2003, the Potomac Officers Club has awarded this distinction to speakers who have left an indelible mark on the Washington, DC area’s business community. Former recipients read like a who’s who:  Dan Bannister (former CEO, Dyncorp), Jack London (CEO, CACI), and Charles Rossotti (former Commissioner of IRS, co-founder AMS). Here’s a look back at other past recipients — and for details on an upcoming event featuring William Cohen, click here:

Local Tech Leader Ted Leonsis interview on CNBC

Following the 4th largest single day fall in points on the Dow Jones Industrial average, Ted Leonsis appeared on CNBC’s morning edition of Squawkbox. Leonsis believes that the growth of online media will outpace more traditional methods as we see “consumers become merchants.” 

According to a CNBC interview, Ted Leonsis, Washington Caps owner and Vice Chairman Emeritus of AOL, believes that we have yet to bottom out of the financial crisis. Leonsis also said:

1. “Washington is really becoming the new capital for the economy”
2. “Commercial Real Estate will start to suffer”
3. “…not seeing the kind of recession the rest of the country is seeing”
4. Google has 5,000,000 advertisers and consumers are the long tail

Area residents should take heart, as Washington D.C. has managed to weather the crisis better than many other areas in the country.  According to Leonsis, this trend will continue given the furor of activity surrounding the incoming administration.  The future of new media will focus on  working smarter by placing media directly at the point-of-sale.  Click here to read more on Ted’s take.   

Do You Know Anthony Robbins of Sun Microsystems?

ExecutiveBiz recently had the opportunity to sit down with Anthony Robbins, Vice President of Sales at Sun Microsystems.  Robbins joined Sun following a 20 year career span in the government sector.  Despite the ruling economic climate, Robbins believes that the government will focus on using the most efficient products and services; something which Sun prides itself on providing.  In terms of weathering the financial storm, Robbins believes that the government will seize this opportunity to use corporate best practices as a guide and gain the best ROI by improving efficiencies.  One of the ways to do that might be in the adoption of open source.  Click here to read more. 

Financial Guru Headlines Event

Don’t miss the chance to meet Knight Kiplinger, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on financial forecasting, planning and wealth retention. The event will be hosted by the Potomac Officers Club on December 11th at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM. Members click here to read more about Knight Kiplinger and here to reserve your seat.

Cyber Security Breakfast with Melissa Hathaway

ExecutiveBiz is proud to host a rare public appearance by Ms. Melissa Hathaway, Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and Cyber Coordination Executive. The event will be held on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 from 8:00 a.m.- 10:00 a.m. More details can be found here .  Click here to register.

These could charitably be called uncertain times. Among those feeling the heat of the financial meltdown are Washington, DC area companies that face the tricky task of balancing their existing customer base with business development. So, how can companies weather the financial storm and still see their businesses grow? For answers, we went straight to Ted Leonsis, vice chairman emeritus of AOL. Leonsis offers a six-point plan that — by his estimation — every CEO at every company needs to put in place right now. Here’s a rundown:

• Forget the long-term and focus on the next 18 months. “Too many business plans have growth coming in Year 2, Year 3 …  and that’s when you get the cash flow profitability for start-ups — all those plans have to be thrown out the window with a focus on cash-flow profitability now being central to any business case,” says Leonsis, adding, “Growth for growth’s sake is no longer in fashion.”
• Cash is now king. Those companies that have cash not only will be able to weather through current credit issues, they’ll also be able to consolidate companies that are less solvent than they are. “So, I think you’ll see some real opportunities where cash-rich companies will be able to buy and merge with great companies that just didn’t get financed or for whatever reason didn’t have the wherewithal to raise money at the time it was needed,” says Leonsis.
• Double-down and focus on your existing customer relationships. It’s expensive to get a new customer — and your most profitable customers are your existing ones.  “Getting into deeper, more profitable relationships with your existing base — and hunkering down with them — is a wise course of action,” says Leonsis.
• Raise monies today — and keep your pride in check. “There’s money to be had, it’s just that the terms are much more onerous — entrepreneurs will have to keep their pride in check and not worry about valuations,” says Leonsis. “Right now many funds and most individuals’ portfolios are down significantly and it would be naive to think that valuations of many companies haven’t been affected right now,” he adds. So, Leonsis’s advice: take the money and don’t worry about the valuation.
• Look at your business with a third-party critical eye. Look at what is “must-have” versus “what’s nice to have.” If you have three product lines, and one is very profitable, one is marginally profitable, and another one is just being rolled out and is eating cash — even if you like the product and customers like the product — it’s time to either go to one product or two products, says Leonsis. “The ‘nice to have’s’ in your business are no longer financeable,” he says, “and every CEO has to be really hypercritical on what they really need to get to the next phase of their business.”
• Be brutally honest and ask yourself: Is your company going to make it? “We’re in that time period where it will be survival of the fittest, so I can see some people who have cash literally almost stopping operations now — getting things down to the bare bones — just to wait until it gets better,” says Leonsis. “Because if you run business as usual you will run out of gas and be out of business,” he adds. Leonsis offers a scenario: A lot of times entrepreneurs, through force of will, will try to make a venture happen. So, let’s say an entrepreneur has $1 million in the bank, and he’s losing $100,000 a month. But his business plan says that by Month 6, he’ll be losing $50,000 a month. The entrepreneur needs to ask himself now: Is that outcome really going to happen? If not — because sales may be affected now — the entrepreneur might be better off keeping that $1 million, stop marketing his product, and retool the business. “So, have 10 people in the company and try to figure out how to live to fight another day,” says Leonsis.