Meet FEI's 2010-2011: U.S. and Canada chairs: besides living in North America, what the incoming chairs for FEI U.S. and FEIC have in common is their longstanding commitment to volunteer leadership roles for the association as well as their interest in driving and perpetuating the organization's goals.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: FEI CHAIRS - Financial Executives International

BRIAN B. RUTTENCUTTER

CONSUMMATE FEI MEMBER

The name Brian Ruttencutter has been associated in so many ways with FEI over the years that it's simply a given that he's now stepping up to the role of U.S. chairman for 2010-2011.

Cognizant of the dismal economy over the last two years, Ruttencutter arrives with a long list of goals for the organization during his tenure. Topping his list includes returning membership growth to five percent (or more) as well as balancing the organizational budget for FY 2011.

"As financial executives, we've got to be exemplary of the right path and that begins with how we manage our organizational finances," says Ruttencutter, who is currently the chief financial officer of Cumming Group in Los Angeles, a privately held national leader in the construction-management services industry.

It's unfortunate, he notes, that memberships--for FEI as well as other professional associations--have declined, particularly during the recent financial crisis. The good news is that over the last six months FEI's numbers have started to pick up, which makes him optimistic. "Some steps have been taken internally to stabilize things in terms of how we pursue new members," he says, citing new staff and resources for recruiting and retaining and providing initiatives and incentives to join.

"We have a huge untapped market of potential members," he says, "a big pond with a lot of fish in it." And, to ensure the association's continuing success, he adds that, "we've got to be more reflective of our target market--a younger, more diverse market than our current membership profile, and we've got to pursue that diversity of membership in terms of gender, race and age."

So, he says, we're also looking at a new class of membership, by targeting and inviting a lower management-level to join.

In his longer "to-do" list are goals that are largely reflective of those FEI has included in its newly formulated Strategic Plan, he says.

Among those are: Establishing one or more new internationally-based FEI organizations; developing a cutting-edge, best-in-class Web site; increasing the visibility of the wealth of services provided by our headquarters office and advocacy committees through greater cross-fertilization with our chapters and membership-at-large; and strengthening our involvement with and impact on standard-setting and regulatory bodies, such as the United States Congress, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Accounting Standards Board, International Accounting Standards Board and the Internal Revenue Service.

Ruttencutter also wants the organization to reflect the ethical values of financial executives by "continuing to serve as a paragon of integrity in a world that often succumbs to compromising its principles in the pursuit of personal and corporate financial gain."

In light of the global financial crisis, increasing regulation and certain high-profile financial frauds, Ruttencutter says...