The Journey Begins - Articles

As I begin my tenure as CFMA’s President & CEO, I’m impressed and inspired by all of the great people involved with the organization. It’s the hard work of our members, stakeholders, brand ambassadors, and staff that’s enabled me to join the journey now and will continue to move us toward a future fit for the next generation.

Impact of Technology

Financial professionals across all sectors have been leading the way in the use of data, analytics, and innovation to drive business performance. Whether with an abacus, spreadsheet, database, or now more sophisticated artificial intelligence decision-making systems, construction financial professionals (CFPs) have the ability to make positive change in the built environment.

Technology is at the heart of solving the problems that the industry and our profession face. As we seek to cultivate the next generation of talent, technology can be the common vernacular for multiple generations in the workplace. New entrants who are digital natives can reverse mentor seasoned professionals whose experience and expertise can be more readily shared with everyone. Technology also helps businesses better manage performance, risk, and outcomes, especially when we are building assets so critical to our lives.

In this issue of CFMA Building Profits, we investigate how technology can be deployed to help CFPs be more effective, efficient, and impactful.

The Road Ahead

CFMA is fortunate to have such passionate and dedicated stakeholders throughout our community. One of my main goals is to leverage that inclusive community to help make construction an intended destination for new entrants to finance. As our industry competes with others for the best and brightest talent, CFMA’s challenge is to raise the profile of what our members do day in and day out. Building the brand and building our profile through collaborative efforts with other industry players is a top priority.

Another priority is to continue the great spirit of member-staff partnership that exists at CFMA and advance our industry by leveraging the expertise of our staff and the goodwill of our members.

We can only invest in building the brand and cultivating the kind of inclusive community that develops members and stakeholders if we are a sustainable organization. Ensuring that we are robust financially, operationally, and strategically is critical to our future. Transparency with our members and staff about the organization’s direction and their role in its future is imperative for our continued evolution.

Lastly, creating innovative services and solutions and remaining a thought leader on the topics impacting our profession will set us apart. Investing in topics like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as data and technology are just two areas where CFMA can lead. Our challenge will be to prioritize those that will be accretive to our strategic plan.

Thank You for the Warm Welcome

I’d be remiss if I didn’t end by thanking all of you who have welcomed me into CFMA. From the staff who have graciously shared their talent to the Officers who have been so generous and patient with their time, as well as many of you who I don’t know sending warm wishes, I’m heartened by the sense of community.

I also want to extend a special thank you to my predecessor, Stuart Binstock, without whom we wouldn’t have continued to make the kind of progress as was made over the past 12 years. As he heads into retirement, we will forever be transformed by his passion for the industry and CFMA.

Thank you for being a brand ambassador for CFMA, and I hope to meet each and every one of you in the near future.