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Conference call: Doug McKeown CEO of Woodard & Curran (Hot Firm #80 for 2016), a 1,000-person integrated engineering, science, and operations firm based in Portland, Maine.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent “L ive by the contract; never lose sight of it,” McKeown says. A CONVERSATION WITH DOUG MCKEOWN. The Zweig Letter: What’s your philosophy on fee/ billing and accounts receivable? How do you col- lect fees from a difficult client? Doug McKeown: We haven’t had many issues in this department. Client selection helps. It also doesn’t hurt that 25 percent of our revenue is from long-term contracts in operations and manage- ment. We’ve also been doing more design-build work with lump sum contracts. And, while these contracts have more risk, you learn to manage that.
TZL: What’s the recipe for creating an effective board? DM: I think more and more companies are seeing the value in having inside and outside board mem- bers. The main function of a board is to keep the CEO on task and accountable. We’ve gained a great deal from having outside board members – they force us to have a strategic mindset. TZL: Is there a secret to effective ownership transition? “The larger you get the more difficult it is to keep everyone on the same page. You have to avoid fragmentation.”
Doug McKe- own, CEO, Woodard & Curran
THE ZWEIG LETTER Jun
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