Chapter focus: San Antonio.

• Position: Fei news

Area Covered: San Antonio and surrounding areas, including South Texas

Founded: May 8, 1975

No. Members: Approximately 150

Representative Member Companies: HoltCAT, TXCO, AT & T, Compass Bank, SAWS, KCI USAA, NuStar Energy, Accretive Solutions, Tesoro Corp., St. Mary's University, Trinity University

Annual Dues: $250, executives and entrepreneurs; $125, academics, career services, retired

Meeting Schedule: 9 meetings (September--May, usually the 3rd week of the month).

2007-08 Professional Development (PD) Sessions Planned: Leadership development, tax update, healthcare costs, risk management, accounting update.

Events for 2007-8 Include: Spouse's Night; Casino/Texas Hold'em Poker fundraiser; "Bring a Prospect" cocktail reception; wine tasting; San Antonio Spurs (basketball team) Super Suite; cocktail reception at the McNay Art Museum; and a major-fundraiser golf tournament planned for spring 2008.

Regional Challenges: San Antonio has undergone tremendous economic growth, particularly in the last 10 years. While home to such Fortune 20 publicly traded companies as AT & T and Valero, the San Antonio economy is largely driven by mid-caps and smaller companies, many of which are privately held.

Thus, the challenge for the San Antonio chapter is to identify the senior financial executives of these firms and convince them SA FEI is a significant value-added investment for themselves and their business.

Recent Highlights: The San Antonio chapter won an FEI Medium-Sized Outstanding Chapter Award in 2006-2007 and maintains a tradition of top-quality programs and speakers.

The following are some examples of the speakers San Antonio has enjoyed in recent years: Ed Whitacre, chairman, AT & T; Bill Greehey, chairman of the board, NuStar Energy; David Robinson, former NBA MVP, San Antonio Spurs; Mary Jo Green, senior V.P. and treasurer, Sony USA and former FEI vice chair; Colleen Sayther Cunningham, former president and CEO, FEI; Dennert...