2008 was a year of interesting projects and in-depth work with a number of clients for Treadway & Associates. 2009 has started busier than even 2008.

It's not a surprise that Bob is being asked to forecast the economic times ahead. Almost every group bringing him to conferences, strategy sessions, and decision-making meetings is asking for a substantial amount of the time to be spent on the recession, anticipated recovery, and robust strategies and tactics for difficult times. Bob has addressed regional economic conferences, trade associations, financial institutions, government agencies, economic development groups, and a cross-section of industries in North America and Europe.

Every year has a different emphasis for Treadway & Associates. 2009 is shaping up as a year when Bob will spend even more significant time with organizations in the agriculture sector. Besides his past work with the U.S. Grains Council he'll conduct presentations, educational seminars, and planning sessions with a cross section of groups who are dealing with new demands, evolving trade regulations, escalating prices for inputs and outputs, and refocused marketing efforts. His work will cover North and Central America with special emphasis on agriculture in Canada and the Midwestern United States. In one of his most interesting projects in the agriculture sector Bob will facilitate a top-level "leader to leader summit" between one of the world's largest agribusiness companies and the leadership of one of America's most important commodity associations.

This year he's called on to forecast the long term effects of volatility, consumer sentiment, alternative energy, and a drop in market prices for agricultural producers, associations, retailers, and suppliers. He is also spending a substantial amount of time with young agriculture professionals. For a second year he's presenting to a state gathering of young ag couples in an area with a livestock and grain emphasis. He'll also spend time interacting with university students in agriculture trying to help them prepare for the next three decades of change in the sector.

During 2008 Bob was with over a dozen boards of directors and senior management teams in the financial services sector. That emphasis will continue in 2009. The landscape of financial services has been shaken hard over the past year and even more emphasis on building robust plans for the future will be part of the emphasis in the coming year. Bob's work in this area runs the gamut from consulting projects to foresight presentations to full facilitation of strategic and tactical plans. He has a special affinity for credit unions, working with not only some of America's largest institutions but with the "movement's" regulator-insurer.

In September, 2008 Bob conducted training for all examiners with the National Credit Union Administration. This federal agency is the FDIC-equivalent for credit unions. He was asked to help the examiners better understand "strategic risk" and recognize danger signals in a credit union's strategic planning process.

Bob completed a two-year-long engagement with the National League of Cities. He instructed and advised the League's Advisory Council on using futuring techniques to aid municipal officials in long range thinking. The Advisory Council is made up of mayors and other elected officials who've served on the League's board of directors. Their expertise and viewpoints are used to forecast the emerging issues and trends that affect America's cities and towns. During the project Bob aided staff and leadership in setting up foresight systems for the NLC, developed publications to help local officials do better forecasting for their own jurisdictions, and helped develop forecasts for governance, economic vitality, and a range of other issues.

Bob conducted seminars on vigilant leadership and anticipatory management with Fortune 500 managers in London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Hartford, and Minneapolis over the past 18 months. The Institute for Management Studies educates more Fortune 500 managers than any other organization in the world. Bob is in his 15th year as a faculty member of this prestigious organization. Bob's education sessions for IMS are designed to develop anticipatory and foresight skills in top level management executives and "high potential" management candidates being groomed for high organizational positions.

We welcome back clients who have retained Bob for over a decade. The core of our business is made up of clients that we've served well and have continued to use Bob's forecasting, strategy consulting, facilitation, and pedagogical skills. Clients in manufacturing, financial services, agribusiness, telecommunications, and energy joined those ranks in 2008.

Over the years Bob has worked even more with clients outside the United States. He traveled to 12 countries and 134 cities in 2007-2008. The global emphasis continues the trend in 2009. This is a reflection of the truly global scope of business and government in this day and age.

Subscribers to our "E-mail Alerts," a service for individuals who want information on tracking future developments continue to grow. Here are the links if you'd like to sign up for the service or see a sample Alert on Rural America, an Alert on Asia, and another written several months in advance of the Iraq War.