For full disclosure – he is my husband and also Next Stage Solution’s Clerk!

Most Satisfying: In your CONTROLLER work you have done in the past, what is the most satisfying feedback you got from the CEO?

Nineteen out of twenty client companies have offered me a full time position during the engagement.

Most Inventive: Given that as CONTROLLER we understand the importance of providing our clients with more than just accounting and financial reporting, share with us a project that truly made you a value creator.

I began a two person project to determine why a major bank’s ATM conversion had an out of balance total of $19M after the merger of the two banking systems.   The bank booked a 200k reserve to cover this reconciliation exposure.  I requested a Bank Tiger team to assist my current consulting team and at the end of the project we had completely reconciled the account and were only unable to account for $9k in bank funds.  We also discovered a major systems glitch that was the result of the systems merger and trained the banking staff to recognize the problem and how to correct the system if it occurred again.

Most Positive: CONTROLLER’s have different skill set, yet often we are viewed as one of the same.  Tell us a story where your actions made a powerful positive change and why.

I was assigned a project to take over for a Director of Finance at a specialized moving van company.  I first determined that there was a massive amount of misspending going on and no one was managing the AR accounts.  In 6 weeks we were able to make enough corrections that company was stable enough for sale to a much better funded and staffed regional carrier.  The sale of this business unit saved 250 staff member’s jobs as a result of the merger instead of a company closure due to prior management neglect.

Best Business Book: What should every CEO be reading going forward in this tepid economy?

The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win by
David Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich

Funniest Fact: Tell us something funny about you.

I am crazy about WWII aircraft that have massively supercharged engines that “go fast, stay low, and turn left!” also known as the National Championship Air Races held each fall in Reno, NV.  The only rules are that these planes must have a prop and straight wings.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

8:00 a.m. – Registration and Breakfast
8:30-10:00 a.m. – Program

Whether you are a buyer or seller, there are opportunities in the current economic climate to maximize your return on a merger, acquisition, or sale of a business. Our panel will review the current M&A market including a discussion of the deals getting done, opportunities for both buyers and sellers, and a review of how to successfully sell or buy a business.

Topics will include:
The Current M&A Market and Trends
The Credit Markets and their Relation to Valuation
Current Business Valuations and the Impact on Estate Planning Opportunities
How to Prepare for and Pursue a Transaction

University of Massachusetts Lowell
MIL Conference Room
Wannalancit Mills
600 Suffolk Street
Lowell, Massachusetts
Directions

RSVP
nutterevents@nutter.com or 617.439.2622

Linda Fairstein, former prosecutor and best-selling crime novelist

Thursday, March 11, 2010 | One Federal Street, 38th Floor

7:30 am Breakfast, Presentation and Book Signing

Registration:  Tania Wong at  twong@harvardclub.com or  617 450-8468

Linda Fairstein is one of America’s foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children. From 1972 to 2002, she served in the office of the New York County District Attorney, where she was Chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for twenty-six years. In 1988, she was the lead attorney in the homicide prosecution of Robert Chambers of the ‘Preppy Murder’ case. Fairstein is an honors graduate of Vassar College (1969) and the University of Virginia School of Law (1972). In 1998, Fairstein’s law school classmates established a scholarship fund in her honor, the Fairstein Public Service Scholarship, which supports law school students interested in pursuing careers in the public sector.

Ms. Fairstein is the author of an internationally best-selling series of crime novels – translated into more than a dozen languages – which feature Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper. The twelfth in the series, Hell Gate, debuts in March, 2010, published by Dutton. She is also the author of the 1993 non-fiction work, Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She is a regular contributor on criminal justice issues to magazines, journals, and on-line publications like The Daily Beast.

Price per person: $17.50 (plus Club charge & tax) includes breakfast, presentation and book signing. Copies of Linda Fairstein’s book will be available for purchase. Parking will not be included. Cancellation date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

His announcement:

Due to the great success and overwhelming requests since my seminar earlier this month, I have decided to present my seminar again on Wednesday February 24, 2010.

It will be kept free one more time in order to allow anyone who wishes to learn about strategic planning and controlling their business’s financing to be able to attend, regardless of their circumstances.

This is an information session in a 2 hour seminar from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

9:00 – 9:20 doors open with coffee & networking

9:20 – 10:30 seminar

10:30 – 10:45 Questions & Answers

10:45 – 11:00 Networking

My seminar is called “What Every Small-Business Owner Should Know About Small-Business Financing,”  will take place at the Middleboro Holiday Inn Express, conveniently located immediately off of Route 495 at exit 6. The address is 43 Harding St Middleboro, MA 02346.

The seminar is geared toward the small-business owner and the professional who serves as a trusted adviser to businesses. Attendees will benefit from learning more about the different type of financing options that exist, their advantages and disadvantages, and how to evaluate a business’s financing strategy.  Topics will include:

·        Business Financing “Landmines” to avoid

·        Differences between consumer and business financing

·        Three vital elements to consider in a business transaction (from a financing point of view)

·        A comparison of financing options and how each may affect the survival/growth potential of a business

“Anyone who is considering financing or has had any questions about the best ways to finance business expansion or equipment should take advantage of this opportunity,” said Chalif, who has spoken before national organizations on this topic.

Atlantic Capital Solutions (ACS) provides specialized, one-to-one servicing in helping business owners and entrepreneurs attain financing. The company works with business owners, controllers, CFOs and other decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and equipment vendors.

ACS’s offerings include the following programs:

·        New and used equipment leasing/financingSmall Business Administration

·        (SBA) options

·        Non SBA solutions for start-up businesses

·        Commercial mortgages

·        Terminal Rental Adjustment Clause

·        (TRAC) leases

·        Lines of credit

·        Working capital loans

·        Business acquisitions

·        Factoring (accounts receivable funding)

Space is limited and interested parties must register by February 19^th.  To register, please do so by e-mail,  itamar@acsus.biz or for additional information call 1-877-ACSUS-14.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Itamar Chalif

Atlantic Capital Solutions

NSS congratulates the 11 outstanding women!

The 2010 honorees, their titles, industries and locations are:

Marcie Black, Chief technology officer, Bandgap Engineering Inc., Photovoltaic systems, Woburn

A.G. Breitenstein, Vice president and general manager for provider markets, Humedica Inc., Healthcare IT, Boston

Catherine Crawford, Senior technical staff member, IBM Corp., Supercomputers, Bedford, N.H.

Lauren Crews, Technology coordinator, Raytheon Co., Defense, Andover

Elizabet de los Pinos, Chief executive officer, Aura Biosciences Inc., Biotechnology, Cambridge

Michelle Dipp, Vice president and head of the U.S. Centre for External Drug Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Biotechnology, Cambridge

Jill Drury, Associate department head, The Mitre Corp., Robotics, Bedford

Candace Fleming, Chief executive officer, Crimson Hexagon Inc., Social networking, Cambridge

Katie Hall, Chief technology officer, Witricity Corp., Electronics, Cambridge

Dava Newman, Professor of aeronautics, astronomics and engineering systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aerospace, Cambridge

Livia Racz, Division leader for advanced hardware development, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc., Electronics, Cambridge

This event is being designed to offer us all a lived and felt experience of sufficiency as well as the opportunity to join with some of our world’s most visionary leaders to do our part in this period of great transition for our planet.  Come and be part of this emergent movement to change the course of history!

Co-sponsored by The Sufficiency Foundation, The Global Sufficiency Network and sufficiency leaders, this year’s Summit is expanded to two full days. The program will consist of keynote addresses, panel discussions, and workshops by leaders in the development of sufficiency and sustainability paradigms, experiential workshops on sufficiency, and plenary sessions with visionaries such as:

• Lynne Twist of The Pachamama Alliance and author of The Soul of Money
• Hazel Henderson, author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy
• Bill Reed of Integrative Design Collaborative
• Ethan Nichtern of the Interdependence Project
• Spencer Sherman, author of The Cure for Money Madness
• Sufficiency leaders from The GSS Executive Team, The Sufficiency Foundation, The Global Sufficiency Network, and Sufficiency Call Groups.

Please join us for this unique event, designed to profoundly alter the lives of all who participate. In the context of community, we will examine the possibility, power and joy of bringing sufficiency into our everyday lives with awareness and responsible action.

Register now at http://gss.eventbrite.com.  Registration will be $199. For more information and conference updates, please visit The Global Sufficiency Network at http://www.globalsufficiency.org.

Volunteer opportunities are available in exchange for full or partial conference fees and meals. Contact Jan Kearce at jkearce@yahoo.com.

We look forward to being with you on April 10 and 11 as we expand our capacity as global citizens dedicated to sufficiency and sustainability for all.

Yours in sufficiency,
Jen, Gina, and Shea

Women to Watch 2010
Deadline: December 4, 2009

Mass High Tech is calling for nominations for its 2010 Women to Watch program, in which 10 New England-based women — from fields such as biotech, telecom, software, hardware, electronics, advanced energy, nanotech, medical devices, IT, networks and communications, robotics — will be honored as future leaders and innovators. This is the 7th year of the Women to Watch program.  See past years’ honorees

You know these women to be go-getters — bright, innovative, hard working, inspirational to others and motivated. They are accomplished and up-and-coming, growing in their careers. They will shape the future of their industries, while serving as role models for young girls.

The nomination process is open to women working in the technology and academic communities in New England.

Honorees typically have:

• At least five years of managerial or technical experience in technology or science-related businesses, or in academic research leading to commercialization of tech-based products and/or services. The candidate does not have to be at the CEO or senior academic faculty level; the purpose of this program is to recognize women who are still on the rise, who have not reached their full potential.
• An engineering or science degree.
• Demonstrated leadership abilities, including (please provide examples): proven business results with a project or new technology; ability to mobilize teams and/or projects; use of creative thinking to solve complex problems; sound decision-making; an active role in the community or as a mentor.
• The ability to think creatively and develop new opportunities with regard to business or the commercialization of technology.
• If within academia, the nominee should have worked on research that has been, or soon will be, commercialized.

See examples of past honorees

NOMINATION FORM

If you have any questions, please contact Jim Connolly at jconnolly@masshightech.com.

Deadline for nominations is December 4, 2009. Nominations will be reviewed by an advisory committee, and those individuals chosen to be recognized will be notified by Mass High Tech no later than Jan. 30. An awards reception to honor these women will take place in early March. Keep checking this website for more details about time and location of the event.

Register today at www.mitcfo.com

Next Stage Solutions will be attending and we hope you will join us!  Following the success of prior years, the MIT Sloan Alumni Club of Boston will be hosting this annual MIT CFO Summit on November 19, 2009. They are welcoming 500+ CFO’s to this year’s Summit for an interesting day of dialogue & discourse.

• Joe Capezza, Chief Financial Officer, Health Net
• David Goulden, Chief Financial Officer, EMC
• Steve Isakowitz, Chief Financial Officer, US Department of Energy
• Kurt Kuehn, Chief Financial Officer, UPS
• Gunter Niederhuder, Chief Financial Officer, BMW German Market
• And many more!

Special thanks to Gold level event sponsors ALTRAN Control Solutions, KPMG , and Silicon Valley Bank; Silver level event sponsors AFP, Credit Suisse, Mintz Levin, MUNCMedia, and Watson Wyatt; as well as Networking Sponsors Basware, HR Knowledge, MIT Sloan Executive Education, and Sentinel Benefits.

Jack McCullough and Jeremy Seidman
Co-Chairs
MIT Sloan CFO Summit

email: info@mitcfo.com
web: http://www.mitcfo.com

Swiss consul general Pascal Marmier has helped transform the Cambridge consulate into a leading-edge diplomatic outpost.    (Pat Greenhouse/ Globe Staff)

SwissNex is an innovative idea of bridging technology and science between two countries – the USA and Switzerland.  As a Swiss Native, I have been very involved in the various activities, particularly with the Venture Leaders.  These are 20 start-ups that each year get chosen by CTI in Switzerland to visit Boston.  Pascal and the SwissNex team host this group and bring Boston area coaches and experts in to provide feedback around fund raising, scaling and entering the US market.

The Boston Globe had a write up last month titled “Diplomacy opens a portal to profit- Boston’s consulates focus on business“  talking about the dynamic consul general Pascal Marmier and how other consulates are now creating similar venues. Pascal is a new breed of consuls, with energy and  innovative thinking abound. He is also the networking king par-excellence.  We are very lucky to have him as our consul general.

To brag just a little more, Switzerland ranked #1 in Global Competitiveness by the World Economic Forum.  Checkout the report:   The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010

Rudi Scheiber-Kurtz, CEO
Next Stage Solutions, Inc.

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