I recently returned from a meeting on the west coast attended by CEO’s, corporate development officers, and industry advisors to the defense and aerospace industry. The managing director of a large international investment bank best summed up the sentiment of the participants when he said, “I wish I were here to say we are entering a big M&A cycle. Rather, we think we are entering a period that will be filled with soul searching and analysis.”

Each March, leading defense/aerospace and federal IT investors and corporate development executives meet in Reston, Virginia, to take stock of what’s changed – and what hasn’t – in the competitive landscape of the rapidly evolving defense & aerospace industry.
Industry leaders at the Strategic Research Institute’s 5th Annual Defense & Aerospace Investor & Corporate Development Conference observed that 2005 appears to be on track to meet or exceed the M&A activity in 2004. Eighteen transactions were already announced in the government services sector in January, compared to 8 announced deals in January 2004. The escalated trend was reinforced the first morning of the conference by the announcement the previous day of the $3.9 + billion acquisition of United Defense Industries, Inc. by BAE Systems North America.

The optics and photonics industry has been important to Central Florida ever since efforts by state leaders to expand Florida’s economy beyond its dependence on tourism and citrus in the 1980s. Initiatives by visionaries such as Bill Schwartz led to the founding of Florida’s laser industry and the 1986 establishment of the Center for Research in Electro-Optics and Lasers (CREOL) in Orlando.

PCE predicts a continued and accelerated trend of consolidation for Florida home builders very much akin to what we have seen in the banking industry. The large national home builders are changing the competitive landscape of the industry and, by the end the decade, will control a dramatically increased market share of the single-family permits in Florida.

Achieving success in the global marketplace requires real-world experience with the challenges of working in foreign markets. Specialized knowledge is essential to ensuring liquidity, navigating the local trading markets, and managing social, political and economic risk.

As I sat in the dark and listened to Hurricane Charley wreak havoc on my home and yard, I reflected on what I heard only days before at the Defense & Aerospace Investor & Corporate Development Conference. Pentagon, industry, and Wall Street experts met in San Diego, California to discuss issues ranging from defense and aerospace market drivers to who the winners and losers are in this rapidly changing sector. The “big” take-away was not about market drivers. Instead, it was this sector’s advancement or prompt movement from the calm “eye” into the “back-side of this mighty storm.”

One of the great privileges in my business career has been to serve for the past six years on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Jacksonville Branch.

Opportunity knocks, but doesn’t always answer to its name. — Mason Cooley

“The Constitution guarantees you the pursuit of happiness… but doesn’t guarantee to finance the chase.” 

Our recent survey of Florida business revealed that many owners did not know the value of their businesses. This fact illustrates one of the major issues owners face in private companies – measuring performance.