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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Government contracting has become the driving force behind our growth here at ExecutiveBiz. The GovCon market has grown locally with the support of highly engaged Representatives like Tom Davis(R) and Jim Moran(D)keeping a vigilant watch over this key economic driver. With Tom Davis not seeking re-election to Congress, many wonder what impact this loss of a champion will have on our local GovCon economy. ExecutiveBiz interviewed Tom Davis on that very topic. (Click to read)

Click here to read our interview with Keith Fimian.

Gov. Tim Kaine Talks Technology on Oct 28th

Register now for the Potomac Officers Club upcoming (members only) event about the technology that is impacting the presidential campaign. Governor Kaine will be joined by Julius Genachowski and Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra.

Stanley, Inc. on Forbes’ “Best Small Companies” List

Stanley  Inc, a local government contractor announced this week that it has been ranked seventh on Forbes’ 2008 list of “America’s 200 Best Small Companies.”

Congratulations to Phil Nolan and his entire team. Click here to read more.

Do you know Paul Colangelo of Convergys Government Solutions?

It’s his second “exciting” year at Convergys, and Colangelo already has a lot to show for it. By year end, his team had established Convergys Government Solutions as a leader in relationship management through a multi-channel contact centers solutions. By year two, the U.S. General Services Administration named Convergys a preferred contact center solutions provider. Recently Colangelo sat down with ExecutiveBiz to tell us how Convergys has reached this and other milestones — and what’s next on the horizon. Click here to read more

Are you going to Fight Night?

Fight Night was recently named by BizBash magazine as the number one benefit in Washington. This year’s event, which takes place Thursday, November 6, at the Hilton Washington, is expected to draw over 2,000 of Washington’s leaders in business, politics, sports, and the media to promote the quality of education in Washington, DC schools. We caught up with Fred Schaufeld, founder and chairman of NEW Customer Service Companies, who’ll serve as chairman of the 2008 event, and talked about why he is involved in Fight Night. Click here to read more.

Stanley  Inc., a leading provider of information technology services and solutions to US defense and federal civilian government agencies, was just ranked seventh in its depute on Forbes’ 2008 list of, “America’s 200 Best Small Companies.”

“We are honored to be recognized by Forbes as one of the top ten best small businesses” said Phil Nolan, Stanley’s chairman president and CEO. “The continued success and growth of our company is directly attributable to the dedication of our employees, to their work and to our customers’ missions.’

In order to qualify for Forbes’ Top 100 list, (83 of last year’s members did not make the cut this year), companies need to have sales between $5 million and $750 million and stock prices of at least $5 as of September 29, 2008. The Forbes ranking is based on return on equity, sales, growth and profit growth over the past 12 month and also over five years. Stanley cracked the top 10 with annual sales of $643 million, net income of $29 million and a net margin of 5 percent, among other figures.

Other local tech companies among the Forbes Small Company leaders are Arlington-based Strayer Education (No. 20), a provider of traditional classroom and Internet-based learning, and Liquidity Services (No. 26), the DC-based developer of an online auction marketplace for wholesale, surplus and salvage assets. Comtech Telecommunications (No. 25), the parent of Germantown-based Comtech Mobile Datacom, a provider of satellite-based communication systems and location and messaging services, also made the list.