They come from a diverse range of backgrounds. Some came to the private sector from the military. Others made the transition from the government. Still others started out directly in the commercial space and worked their way on up. But whatever their individual backgrounds they all share a common theme: Each has developed winning strategies that have driven the success of their companies.

It is that record of excellence that has led each to be named to our Top 10 Business Development Executives list. From defense to IT, all bring to their positions unique industry expertise — and the experience needed to forecast long-range opportunities. As we look to a change in administration and a new economic climate, these Top 10 executives weigh in on what’s ahead for the government contracting community — and what other area executives can do to help their companies rise to the top as well.

Howard Ady, Stanley Inc.

In his spare time he’s a fan of volksmarching — a noncompetitive form of walking — but get Howard Ady in a board room and you’ll find nothing noncompetitive about him there. Backed by a strong team spirit, Ady serves as vice president of federal accounts for Stanley, Inc., an Arlington, Va.-based company that provides systems integration and professional services to U.S. defense and federal civilian government agencies. Having been at the company a little under a year, Ady is currently leading several major GWAC initiatives and assists with positioning Stanley for larger, more strategic opportunities down the road.

“Howard brings both a distinguished federal career in key CIO and CFO positions and a decade of industry IT expertise to Stanley,” says George Wilson, Stanley executive vice president. “We are glad he chose to join our team and assist us in further developing our customer relationships.”

Long before he ever joined Stanley, and before that BearingPoint, Ady was heralded for his work within the local IT community. Having been with the federal government for 33 years with DOD, Navy, GSA and OPM organizations, in CIO and CFO roles, Ady made it a point to establish closer ties between the public and private sectors once he left for the industry sector. That commitment has won big praise from leading association groups, such as the American Council for Technology, which honored him in 2003 with its prestigious Janice K. Mendenhall Spirit of Leadership Award.

These days, Ady is making sure that business development goals for Stanley take into account both the change in administration and challenging economic climate. “We are concerned about delays in confirmations for agency political positions and will continue our strategic planning to better position Stanley for success,” says Ady, outlining a few of his objectives for the coming year. “We are hopeful that new political leadership will strive to fill the vacuum caused by the retirement of the Honorable Tom Davis; we expect the two-front war to continue to draw on scarce resources in a troubled economy causing continued consolidation in the federal, state and local IT community; and we expect to be on the frontlines of what we anticipate to be avid support by [the new] administration to support cybersecurity.”

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You’ve heard the buzz. And now you’ve read the news: Serco Inc., the U.S.-based division of the international service company Serco Group plc, has just acquired SI International for $423 million. The transaction would further evolve Serco’s North American organization into a management services business, the company said. Still untold is what this acquisition will mean to the future of both companies — until now. In an exclusive interview with ExecutiveBiz, Serco Inc.’s Chairman and CEO Ed Casey lets us in on the back story behind the acquisition — his first major acquisition as CEO — plus he discusses his top priorities for the coming months, and how SI International’s President and CEO Brad Antle will be part of what many are calling a winning new chapter in both company’s lives.

This is your first major acquisition as CEO. Tell us how the deal came about and how you chose SI International.

Ed Casey: About a year ago we decided to pursue an acquisition strategy. We surveyed the entire marketplace — companies anywhere from $200 million to $2 billion in size. We created a shortlist of those we thought had the best strategic fit and the most promise. SI International was one of those companies. We pursued a couple of companies on that list and this one is obviously the one that got to the finish line. Basically I met Brad Antle [president and CEO of SI International] in March and that was the basis for some conversations that ultimately evolved over the last five months.

Tell us about your integration plan for the two companies.

Ed Casey: As we think through transition integration, clearly the number one priority is our people, the employees of SI International and Serco. Obviously when you have a situation where the two companies here in North America are almost equal size there are a lot of people who have a lot of questions and a lot of concerns. That will be without question our number one priority: trying to design the new organization going forward and to get the right people in the right roles. If we don’t get the people side of it right then really everything else suffers – our service to our customers, our results to our shareholders – so for us it’s all about the employees over the next 90 to 100 days, or however long it takes us to close the transaction.

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While there are multiple paths for government contractors to ascend to the coveted tier-one status of $1 billion+ annual revenues, most lead - at some point - to a significant acquisition (or two) that opens up a new Agency channel or adds a new core service offering.

This was indeed the case for Serco, Inc., the U.S. division of the British Serco Group, which today announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with SI International. Per terms of the agreement, Serco will acquire SI International for $423 million ($32 per share in cash) - propelling the management services government contractor past that threshold $1 billion mark.

SI International is one of the most well-respected contractors in the area, and was named 2007 Contractor of the Year at the 5th Annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards. The company mantra - Rapid Response • Rapid Deployment® - has resonated with civilian and defense agencies seeking mission-critical services, as the company ranked number 44 on Washington Technology’s list of the Top 100 Federal Prime Contractors for 2008.

In today’s press release announcing the transaction, SI International President and CEO Brad Antle referenced the move as a way to step up to the next level:

“We are pleased that we can join a company of Serco’s stature and success,” said Brad Antle, President and CEO of SI International. “We have had a tremendous track record during our ten-year history and are very proud of the leading position we have achieved in the government services sector. Now is the right time to go to the next level so the services we provide to our customers are enhanced by the scale and global reach that Serco can offer.”

Serco will also assume SI International’s debt, which, at June 28, 2008, was $87.3 million, net of cash. For Serco, the transaction represented an opportunity to add business process re-engineering and mission critical technology solutions to its existing service portfolio.

“Serco and SI International share the same commitment to excellent service and complement each other exceptionally well in both capabilities and markets,” said Ed Casey, Chairman and CEO of Serco Inc. “SI International strengthens our ability to bring business process re-engineering (BPR) and technology solutions to the most demanding government missions, while our increased combined scale positions our businesses to deliver even larger and more complex integrated solutions for our customers.”

Serco North America has just tapped Richard “Dick” Galanis as its new CFO. Serco designs and delivers engineering, human capital management, logistics, transportation, and IT/business transformation services to the federal government, military, and state and local governments. Serco Inc., is part of Serco Group plc, a $6 billion global services company with over 50,000 employees around the world.

“Dick adds an important, strategic dimension to our company as we seek to augment our growth and capabilities through acquisition and bring a new standard of excellence to the systems that support our business activity,” says Ed Casey, Chairman and CEO of Serco. “His experience in integrating acquisitions and developing systems and processes to support higher levels of business activity will prove very valuable as we continue to shape our company for the future.”

Galanis is the latest senior executive to join Serco North America’s leadership team. He brings to the position more than 30 years of experience with large growth companies in the federal contracting sector. Most recently, Galanis was CFO of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems.

In his new role, Galanis will oversee Serco’s financial management systems and processes while supporting acquisition integration.