By Holly Fisher
Supplements Editor

One might assume CEOs have a host of varying concerns that depend on their company size, location, industry type and competition.

But Gary Holdren said the top executives at eight major industries around the country are facing the same worries, chiefly competition from foreign markets.

“It’s unfortunate today in the United States, most large companies are in some form of decline or distress because of competition from foreign markets,” said Holdren, chairman and CEO of Huron Consulting Group.

He points to the automotive, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, health care, university, financial and retail industries as those areas facing this common concern.

An example is the fact that $7,000 from the cost of a new car is used to fund post-retirement benefits for former employees, Holdren noted. “How do you compete with foreign markets who don’t have those costs?”

Holdren pointed to a financial institution with offices in Florida, Michigan and Illinois that sent 16,000 jobs to India. “Who will hire those people? Who will pay for their health care benefits?”

It seems a vicious circle as companies face continued pressure to increase cash flow and increase share cost(do you mean value?). That is where Huron steps in to work with businesses, trying to make their operations more efficient.

“There are 1,500 hospitals in the United States with less than two days of cash on hand,” he said. “Our operations have to be more efficient.

“It’s up to people like yourself to take back the jobs and the capital—bring them back to the U.S,” Holdren said in his recent presentation to students at the College of Charleston.

Holdren and other Huron employees are working to identify keys issues facing the country’s top CEOs, and then Huron is hiring people who can help these companies.

“It’s a difficult world, but it’s invigorating if you figure it out,” Holdren said.

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