The Loan Arranger rides again
After being ambushed, the legendary
Lone Ranger, a crime fighter, didn't
just recover; he came backmore capable and focused on a mission. So did Boeing
Capital Corporation: In late 2003, with its business still affected by the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks, BCC reshaped itself and took on a new mission as
a sort
of "loan arranger" for Boeing businesses.
Its new focus was to support Boeing's business units by developing customer financial
solutions to help capture new business. At the same time, BCC focused on using
third-party financing, reducing portfolio
exposures and performing well financially.
In meeting these new objectives, 2004 was a banner year for Boeing Capital,
said Walt Skowronski, who became president of BCC in late 2003. First
BCC realigned its portfolio. In May 2004, BCC sold its $2 billion Commercial
Financial Services businesswhich provided financing for commercial
assets such as business aircraft, marine vessels and construction equipmentso
it could concentrate on supporting only Boeing products. Its $10 billion
portfolio includes about 500 aircraft.
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Finance focuses on
developing people
A cross-company team from various disciplines such as accounting, contracts,
financial planning and budgeting is spearheading an effort to create
an employee-development
curriculum that will prepare
Boeing's Finance professionals for tomorrow's
challenges.
The Finance Integrated People Development initiative unites previously
separate efforts by individual business units to determine what skills,
processes, tools and training will be needed five to 10 years from now
to address new business models, a complex regulatory environment and
changing global workforce demographics.
Whether it's learning to lead in nontraditional organizations such as international
joint ventures or adapting to new technologies, Boeing Finance professionals
of the
future "must possess a breadth of skills
and diversity of experiences," said James
Bell, Boeing chief financial officer.
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