DAVID BOLTON FLOOD
e-mail.: davidbflood@yahoo.com
Mr. Flood is one of the pioneers of applying the techniques of competitiveness to economic development. Well known for his catalytic approach and dynamic style of public speaking, from 1998-2004 Flood undertook assignments as Chief of Party on USAID-funded projects (in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Pakistan, and Bosnia) leading to cluster development in a number of Asian economies (national and regional) in a number of sectors, including tourism, tea, rubber, ceramics, information technology, gems and jewelry, natural fibers, handicrafts, and the full range of associated providers of goods and services to these sectors. He has worked extensively in the fisheries, manufacturing, information technologies and agricultural sectors in over forty countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East
Beginning in 1980 as an associate consultant with Strategic Planning Associates (SPA—now part of Mercer Management), a consulting firm to the Fortune 500, two key sectors of involvement were telecommunications and agribusiness. Then, after moving to Wall Street where he became Project Director for the International Commodities Department of EF Hutton,
Mr. Flood’s work on corporate strategy development and implementation was complemented by insights gained on the role of policy while a Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and as an advisor to the Agriculture Department at the World Bank. Mr. Flood set-up and managed the North American office of a European-based branch of the United Nations which provided market intelligence to firms and their trade associations throughout the Western Hemisphere. Mr. Flood’s weekly and monthly publications highlighted industries, markets, and firms where innovation, forward integration in distribution, and other attributes of competitiveness were noted. In addition to newsletters and other reports, the office provided technical assistance and technology transfer services throughout Latin America.
Mr. Flood has assisted UNIDO, the World Bank, USAID, other donor organizations, and private groups in the development of trade associations, market intelligence units, strategy development and implementation.
Mr. Flood provided services to the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership (MFP) to help with the development and implementation of a quality seal program for the state’s fishing industry. A strategy to help the MFP move from a model of “social services provider” to “enabler of fisheries-related businesses” was developed and subsequently funded with federal, regional and commonwealth funding.
(Note: A listing of Mr. Flood’s consulting assignments is available as an addendum.)
EXPERIENCE
2004 Chief of Party, Pakistan Strategic Development and Competitivness, for USAID as implemented by JEAustin Assoc. Developed short-term project into a major multi-sectoral initiative.
Chief of Party, Bosnia Cluster Competitiveness Activity, for Deloitte Touche and USAID. Staffed up the project and wrote the 3 year plan for it.
1999-2002
J.E. Austin Associates, Inc., 2111 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1050, Arlington, VA. 22201, USA, Tel. + 703-841-9841. (Austin Associates is a management consulting firm co-founded by Dr. James E. Austin of the Harvard Business School. The firm has an international focus on trade and management for private and public entities.)
-Senior Advisor on Competitiveness
-Chief-of-Party of the USAID-funded “Competitiveness Initiative” in Sri Lanka.
While in Sri Lanka Mr. Flood helped to launch the range of clusters mentioned above, and he presented these materials on invitation to conferences and workshops in Vietnam, Cambodia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and other countries. In addition to USAID, clients included governments and private entities in a number of these countries..
1999
World Bank, Consultant to Southern Africa Region, Private Sector Operations. Led research on “Industrial Applications of Traditional Raw Agricultural Materials: Implications for World Bank Support for Developing Country Agribusiness.”
Massachusetts Fisheries Partnership, Co-Chairman of the Committee on Competitiveness and Quality. Worked with this producer association to boost resource productivity in an industry (fisheries) under severe regulatory and market pressures. Helped develop a state-wide quality program leading to branding, to facilitate the flow of investments to diversified hi-end activities in the industry. Worked with lobbyists, regulators, academics, members of state and US senate and congress, high church (Catholic) officials. Directed workshops to promote a focused public-private dialogue on competitiveness in the fisheries industry.
Presenter: Cairo Conference on “The Competitiveness of the Egyptian Economy,” for Nathan Associates, Arlington, VA..
Presenter: “Outsourcing in the Caribbean: Implications for Competitiveness,” Office of Investment Promotion, Dominican Republic.
1998
J.E.Austin Associates, Consultant.
Continued involvement with a start-up company, Quality Assurance Technologies, Inc. (see below).
1997
Founding Partner of Quality Assurance Technologies (QAT), Inc., a start-up firm dedicated to development of sensor systems to detect food quality under USDA Food and Drug Administration guidelines known as HACCP (Hazard Analysis at Critical Control Points).
QAT successfully negotiated the participation of a leading university in Massachusetts as a joint-venture partner in this start-up company.
1994 – 1997
Partner, Market and Technology Partners, Inc., Miami, Florida.
Active partner in a firm established by a well-known group of experts in international trade, agribusiness development, and information systems. Managed business development in the areas of association development, investment promotion, and strategic planning. Key assistance was lent to the Palestine Authority (via a USAID-funded contract with ACDI) in scoping-out different forms of associations to oversee promotion of non-traditional agricultural exports and related technical assistance and technology transfer services.
Mr. Flood obtained certification as a HACCP inspector from the US Department of Commerce’s National Marine and Fisheries Service.
1991 – 1994
Senior Consultant, J.E. Austin Associates, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC.
1986 – 1990
Senior Marketing Advisor, North American Office, Market News Service, United Nations International Trade Centre, Boston, Massachusetts.
Launched a new office chartered to provide market intelligence (weekly reports and monthly newsletters) on North American markets, to deliver technical assistance, and to facilitate trade contacts for producers and exporters of horticultural products in Latin America and the Caribbean. Responsibilities ranged from office set-up, staffing, and fund-raising to the marketing of services and negotiation of working agreements with the World Bank, USAID, CIDA, and governmental agencies throughout the LAC region. Established working relationships with numerous commercial and public sources of information. Designed database, data collection instruments and reporting formats. Negotiated distribution agreements with communications companies in the US and Latin America. Contracted affiliated offices in Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Central America.
1985-1986
Fellow, World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.
Co-authored with Dr. Montague Yudelman, former Director of Agriculture and Rural Development at the World Bank, a book entitled Agricultural Development: A View from the Bank. Also carried out various consulting assignments.
1982 – 1984
Consultant, Agricultural Economics and Policy Division and the Economic Development Institute, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Developed commodity trading strategies and associated marketing, financial and organization requirements in the context of Bank lending operations.
1982 – 1983
International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, New York City.
Selected as the only corporate fellow for the year. Seconded to the World Bank from E.F. Hutton and Co.
1981 – 1982
Project Director, International Commodities Department, E.F. Hutton and Co., New York City, New York.
Analyzed and targeted opportunities for the firm's services as a futures commission merchant in foreign markets. Licensed with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. On a one-month leave-of-absence, served as advance man for a U.S. Presidential Mission to Southeast Asia, working with the Royal Thai Government to develop improved grain marketing policies and strategies, including a futures exchange. Also worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines in drafting legislation to permit hedging in international futures markets.
1980 – 1981
Consultant, Strategic Planning Associates, Washington, D.C.
Specialized in competitive planning and the design and implementation of corporate strategy, working mainly with communications, agribusiness and transportation companies. Number two man in the Education and Training Department of SPA.
1979
Intern, Center for Inter-American Relations, New York City, New York.
Contributed to a study on the economic strategy of Chile during the post-WWII era of the “Chicago Boys.”
EDUCATION
M.A., Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, 1979.
B.A., University of Delaware, 1978.
-Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland, 1977.
-Early Development Institute, Tokyo, Japan, 1976.
LANGUAGES
Spanish (FSI 4); French (FSI 3); English (Native).
PUBLICATIONS
Mr. Flood has written, edited and/or made significant substantive contributions to numerous
books, articles and consulting mission reports.
PERSONAL
Date of birth, 7 November 1953. Citizen of the USA.
World Bank Consultant on preparation of a research study on “Industrial Applications of Raw Agriculturual Commodities."” June, July 1999.
Speaker and panelist at the “Forum on Trade and Investment “ sponsored by the Office of the President, Dominican Republic Investment Promotion Office, Santo Domingo, March 1999.
Consultant to the Government of Egypt on “Building Competitiveness” (1999).
Consultant to the Cabinet of Sri Lanka on gaining industrial competitiveness (1998).
Consultant to the establishment of an Association of Nontraditional Agricultural Exporters in Haiti (1997).
Evaluation of the Small Business Export Development project in Jamaica (1997).
Assisted a strategic marketing exercise for the Produce Reporters Co. Blue Book (1997).
Developed a diversification strategy for a 2,000 hectare farm in Saudi Arabia (1996).
Developed the Bolivian National Plan for Agroindustries, for UNIDO (1995).
For IDB, identified loan to build a market information system in Belize (1995/6).
Co-authored a report, which profiled export promotion organizations of potential relevance to the Palestine Export Board (1994).
A leading role in the formulation of a proposal of the Fundacion Hondurena de Investigacion
Agricola (Agricultural Research Foundation of Honduras) to create a new export marketing
Unit for export fruits and vegetables (1994).
Provision of strategic advice to FIRA, the Bank of Mexico's $5 billion trust fund for agriculture,
with an emphasis on organizational restructuring, financing options, promotional activities,
lending to support modernization and improved delivery of rural credit (1994).
Guest lecturer in a seminar on international agricultural trade opportunities sponsored by a
private development organization in the Dominican Republic (1994).
Delivery of a series of lectures on investment promotion in various locations of Peru, coupled
with the provision of consulting services to leading exporters through the association of exporters
ADEX (1993).
Over a three-month period, design of an investment promotion strategy for the city of Davao in
the Philippines, targeting key areas of the economy for investment promotion purposes, and
identifying priority investments within each area (1993).
Strategic advice to the president of a $300 million food company in Venezuela, concentrating on
how to increase penetration of core markets and on how to enhance information flows to improve
decision-making (1993).
Design and implementation of an agribusiness investment promotion strategy for the Venezuelan
National Council for Investment Promotion (CONAPRI). This included design of a ethodology,
based on analysis, to identify promising opportunities, as well as management of an investment
survey undertaken by a local consulting firm. The methodology was then transferred to
CONAPRI so as to enable them to prepare investment profiles on an on-going basis (1992).
Collaboration in the establishment of an export marketing unit at Mavesa, a leading food
products company in Venezuela, including conduct of a two-day export marketing workshop
(1992).
Under the USAID-financed Highlands Agricultural Development Project, over a four-month
period designed and supervised implementation of a market information system (MKIS) for the
Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture, providing weekly coverage of grain and produce trade in all
major national markets. Reporting forms were created, manuals were developed and staff were
trained through a dissemination program (1992).
Served as Chief-of-Party on the mid-term evaluation of a USAID-financed agricultural
diversification program being carried out by DIVAGRO, an operating unit of the private
development foundation FUSADES, in El Salvador. In addition to serving as marketing expert,
supervised a team of four people that included specialists in agricultural extension,
organizational development, credit and accounting (1992).
Helped review and revise a preliminary agenda of information services to have been provided by
a proposed association of producers, exporters and receivers of perishables products from the
CBI area, to be called the Caribbean Basin Growers' Association (1992).
Served as agribusiness marketing expert in the formulation of a Project Paper for the USAID-
financed Regional Agribusiness Project for Asia. Fieldwork in Indonesia, the Philippines,
Bangladesh and Nepal involved consultations with agribusiness and export promotion
organizations in each country, as well as a variety of private agribusiness consulting firms, in
pursuit of shared needs in the formulation of national, regional and international export
promotion strategies (1992).
Conducted an evaluation of the Market News Office run by the Fruit and Vegetable Branch of
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, which was financially supported by USAID's Regional
Office for Central American Programs. Confirmed the usefulness of MNS reporting to CBI
producers of horticultural crops, which helped restore USAID funding of the service (1992).
In conjunction with a World Bank mission to review the State's proposed multi-billion dollar
divestment of land reclamation projects and agricultural production companies, reviewed the
status of and plans for the privatization of selected agribusinesses in Egypt, and also developed
guidelines for monitoring the privatization process (1991).
Provided a series of consultancies to the Instituto Superior de Agricultura (ISA) located in
Santiago, Dominican Republic, working to establish a curriculum in international trade for ISA's
business school CADER, to establish a trade library, and to help prepare case studies, seminars
and elective courses (1991).
For the U.N. International Trade Centre, carried out a study that compared strategies for
diversification into high-value agricultural crops employed in Thailand and Colombia. The
analysis examined institutional arrangements, investment patterns, technical assistance flows and
policy variables (1991).
Lead consultant on an evaluation mission of an UNCTAD project entitled "Food Procurement of
Import Commodities." Evaluated the project's influence on grain procurement strategies in
various countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia (1986).
Evaluated future opportunities for the Market News Services of the UN International Trade
Centre in Geneva. Recommended creation of a North American office for the ITC’s MNS
(1986).
On an Inter-American Development Bank mission, served as lead advisor to six governments in
Central America on the feasibility of establishing a regional commodity exchange for grains
(1985).