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By Mark Wright
Move Over Romney: Canadian Mormon Bullock Helped Save Olympics
SALT LAKE CITY -- Just over two years ago, the Salt Lake City Olympic
bribery scandal was in full flame, threatening the future of the 2002
Winter Olympics. Fast forward to today, and the picture is much
rosier. Sponsors are lining up, ticket sales are brisk and the aura
of optimism about the Games seems to be growing every day. While all
of the reasons aren't obvious, it's clear that two Mormon boys have
done a pretty good job of breathing life into the 2002 Games. One of
these Mormons, Mitt Romney, is well-known and has been in the news a
lot since he was officially appointed C.E.O. of the Organizing
Committee on February 11, 1999. It seems that Fraser Bullock, the
other member of the turn-around team, is still somewhat of an
unknown. That's about to change.
As the Salt Lake City Olympic effort transitions from an
organizational mode to operational activities, Bullock will
undoubtedly move forward into the limelight. Bullock, who was born in
Taber, a predominantly Mormon community in southern Alberta and
raised in Calgary, is presently serving as the chief operating
officer and the chief financial officer of the SLOC. Bullock attended
Brigham Young University and graduated with an MBA before taking a
series of jobs in the financial community. As COO, Bullock will be
responsible for the day-to-day operations of the 2002 Games.
Bullock was convinced to join the SLOC by Romney shortly after Romney
took over the SLOC's scandal-plagued effort to land the 2002
Olympics. Bullock's task was challenging, to say the least. At the
time he took over, he inherited a fund-raising nightmare where
critical corporate sponsors where running in the other direction,
distancing themselves from the bad publicity. In addition, the
financial estimates for the 2002 Games showed a projected deficit of
more than $400 million. Today, with just about one year to go, it
seems that Mitt Romney picked the right guy for the job. Bullock has
helped Romney bring respectability to the SLOC Olympic effort and,
through Bullock's efforts as CFO, the latest financial estimates show
that the Games should at least break even.
A short review of Bullock's background can help to illustrate how
he's been able to accomplish what he has. Bullock, who has a strong
background in financial management, has prior experience in making
something out of nothing. Back in the 1980s, he served as CFO of
troubled World Airways Inc. When he first joined World, he found a
consistent money-loser that was 90 days away from insolvency. Soon,
under Bullock's financial leadership, World secured $100 million in
new financing and returned to its roots as a profitable contract
carrier and cargo airline. After Bullock took the CFO's reins, World
turned a profit three years running. It was, he says, the same kind
of financial makeover the Salt Lake City Games needed.
Bullock has accomplished his minor miracle in the most practical way
possible; he started by instituting a series of cuts that were both
large and small. For example, he cut labor costs by $27 million when
he eliminated a number of staff positions. He even found some room to
make cuts at the top when he asked the members of the SLOC board pay
for their own lunch during board meetings. On the revenue side,
Bullock has successfully added more than $200 million in new
sponsorships to the bottom line. All in all, a most impressive
accomplishment. However, Bullock knows that there is still a lot of
work to be done and plans additional efforts to improve the bottom
line. The progress made to date gives Bullock the feeling that, one
year from now, the memories of the scandal will have been replaced by
images of a winter Olympics where the athletes are all that really
matters.
Let the Games begin.
Source:
Bullock to the rescue!
Edmonton AB Canada Sun 8Feb01 S2
By Terry Jones: Edmonton Sun
It took a guy from Taber to clean up Salt Lake City
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