Executive Mosaic is honored to announce Jim McAleese, principal, owner and founder of McAleese & Associates, as the newest inductee into the Wash100, the premier group of leaders who create value and execute strategic vision at the intersection of the public and private sectors.
McAleese founded his government contracts consulting and legal firm in 1992 after graduating from George Washington University Law School “literally as the Berlin Wall was falling,” McAleese told GovCon Exec.
Having specialized in Defense Department weapons programs, McAleese said this was a “unique wake up call” at the dawn of the 1990s ‘Peace Dividend’ drawdown. With daily announcements of major mergers, program terminations and plant closings, McAleese found himself with a critical opportunity to watch the industry restructure in real-time.
“It provided an opportunity to be independent, and to truly focus on substantive DoD customer resourcing challenges, program trade-offs, and contractor program execution,” McAleese said.
“That independence has allowed me to be truthful, impartial, and proactive, in recommending specific-actions in the best interests of both the DoD customer and shareholders alike.”
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Now in his 22nd year of operations, McAleese says his unique DoD resourcing and program trade-offs business continues to be fueled by its three core value drivers: judgment, accuracy and trust.
“This drives a relentless focus on substance,” McAleese said. “This limits the size of my firm to a ‘boutique,’ but a boutique that has consistently punched above its weight, because everything is focused on substance.”
McAleese said he is driven by seeing Defense Department customers take his advice to heart when making critical decisions, and gains unique insights into evolving customer priorities, programs, and affordability through his annual February conference in Washington after the budget roll out where Sr. OSD, Service, Program, and Congressional Principals gather.
“This has directly-strengthened my support of our warfighters, and the importance of their mission,” McAleese said. He also routinely hosts a December conference with Credit Suisse Equity Research in New York.
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As he looks forward, McAleese says he sees a brief window of opportunity for the Defense Department and industry to better align their efforts on prioritizing their missions, setting ‘affordability’ ceilings for those programs, and ensuring maximum ‘bang-for-the-buck’ with the short-term 2014-2015 ‘Mini-Deal.’
“This is absolutely critical, given the wrenching turbulence of 2013 sequester and the recent government shutdown,” McAleese said.
“The real opportunity lies in how DoD ‘buys back’ both ‘readiness’ and modernization in the imminent 2014 Omnibus/Defense Appropriations, plus final 2015 budget trade-offs in early February.”
