Elaine Weiss,
President and CEO
INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS—it's a driving force in the modern world. Its leaders help to influence corporate America’s ethical codes of conduct, shape our economy and create benchmarks for business success.
As such, the Illinois CPA Society saw the importance of addressing the needs of its I&B members. And in 2000, the Center for Corporate Financial Leadership (CCFL) was born. By now, most of you are familiar with CCFL’s mission and services (which are outlined at icpas.org/CCFL.htm). What I would like to highlight for you here are the many improvements and accomplishments the Center has experienced over the last year, specifically in three areas that are indispensable to our members: education, career development and information resources.
On the executive education front, CCFL’s curriculum has grown enormously, from two classes to a current offering of 10. In the past 12 months, 27 executive education programs have been offered, which served 553 members. At least 31 percent of those attending were CFOs or controllers. In addition, CCFL has developed and offered six new webcasts, which drew 520 participants. Topics have ranged from “The Impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on Privately Held Companies and Nonprofit Organizations” and “Ethics” to “Career Management” and the “Impact of the American Jobs Creations Act of 2004.”
In terms of career development, the Center continues to actively promote free job postings via the CCFL Career Center. This section remains the most frequently visited on the CCFL site, and includes corporate finance/accounting job postings, “Your Career Manager” personalized services, and information on job searching, interviewing and compensation, to name but a few of the site’s many features. The service averages about 300 job postings generated by states across the nation.
Lastly, in the area of information resources, NewsFlash, CCFL’s electronic news digest, underwent a major redesign and relaunch this year. In an attempt to enhance the publication’s usefulness to readers, the Center conducted a series of member focus groups, which considered everything from editorial format to graphic design. The result is a new and improved NewsFlash that focuses on targeted subject areas of importance to corporate leaders, delivered concisely in an easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate format. Take a look.
The Society as a whole strives for excellence in meeting the needs of its various member segments. In the future, we plan to continue development of our services and resources, targeting everyone from public accountants to students and young professionals. If you have suggestions for ways in which we can better serve you, we’d be glad to hear from you. Drop us a line.
- Elaine Weiss,
Illinois CPA Society President & CEO