Aaron Bujnowski, Managing Director & Transformative Strategy Lead, Alvarez & Marsal
Aaron Bujnowski, managing director and transformative strategy lead at management consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, spoke with Invest: about how the firm has expanded in recent years from its internationally renowned work in bankruptcies and transformations to include services in healthcare, as well as how this evolution has continued to spur further growth.
What makes Dallas-Fort Worth an ideal location for your firm’s services?
Dallas-Fort Worth is a tremendous, high-growth market. I’ve observed growth across all sectors during the 20 years I’ve lived here. While many other markets orient around one or two major industries, the Dallas-Fort Worth market is extremely well-balanced. Nearly every industry is represented, and at all levels there are corporate centers, manufacturing, and services.
Our consulting firm serves all these industries. I serve the healthcare sector, but Dallas-Fort Worth is an extremely important market to our business because of the breadth of industries and because of the tie-ins to the large local corporate headquarters here, which allows us to build relationships with senior executives.
What opportunities or challenges do population and business growth present for companies, and how are you serving them?
Large population growth presents opportunities for areas such as consumer sales. The number of consumers here is growing tremendously. From a workforce standpoint, the great success Dallas-Fort Worth is having with attracting corporate businesses is due to the quality of lifestyle here, fairly reasonable cost of living, large areas that provide tremendous education opportunities for children and for secondary education. These provide a great platform from which businesses can attract corporate partners to relocate here. Toyota and Liberty Mutual, among others, have relocated here and brought assets to the area.
One challenge involves keeping up with the infrastructure needed to sustain that growth, including corporate and transportation infrastructure. Another challenge includes managing workforce demands across all levels, from labor to executives. These are positive challenges compared to those faced in slower-growing markets.
Are there any specific industries or sectors where you are seeing exceptional growth or results, or which are most aggressively driving demand?
Alvarez & Marsal serves all industries as a transformation advisor, but our history has been in bankruptcies and turnarounds. This is where we started and what we are known for internationally.
We have seen growth across all sectors and are expanding to broader transformation services. Our firm also has a focus on healthcare, which is generally local. The basis and foundation for healthcare are health systems that serve populations, along with physicians and clinicians that provide on-the-ground care. I recently had a leadership role as president of the American College of Healthcare Executives for North Texas, which is the most diverse chapter nationwide and the third largest group in the country. We serve the needs of all health systems in the area and all the services companies which serve this area in healthcare. Our region boasts premier healthcare institutions like UT Southwestern both nationally and worldwide.
What trends in the healthcare industry are presenting opportunities or challenges?
Healthcare is one of the largest industries in the United States and contributes around 36% of GDP. Specifically in DFW, we are seeing intense growth across clinical specialties. We are also seeing expansion in ancillary services and corporate centers supporting healthcare. Our area has a robust mix of independent and system-employed physicians which forms the backbone of medical care.
There is a growing focus on patient preferences, including proximity and home-based care options. We are seeing innovation around delivery models to include home visits and tailored services, as well as diversification of revenue streams by health systems, including digital content partnerships and new business models. The DFW is positioned as an epicenter for healthcare innovation.
Are you observing any specific technologies being integrated into healthcare services?
The digitization of healthcare has been pervasive across all sectors, which has provided ease of care and care delivery at a lower cost. This enables providers to reduce the cost to patients for the services they provide and deliver an enhanced and personalized experience. The DFW market in particular has not been as advanced as other markets in terms of value-based care but shows strong innovative potential. Many small companies are moving into the area which are providing innovations in digital modalities like remote health or monitoring to help support physicians’ care. The entrepreneurial spirit of DFW fosters growth in healthcare startups and digital health ventures.
What are your clients saying about the talent pool, and how are you assessing any issues?
One of the biggest needs we see in the healthcare workforce is in nursing. National trends are reflected here, and many nurses are opting not to work in hospital settings or are leaving the industry entirely. There is a high demand for nurses here. DFW’s reasonable cost of living helps attract talent from other regions, mitigating shortages.
How are your clients approaching office space, workplace culture, and employee engagement?
Healthcare is unique in that it largely needs to be administered in-person. We haven’t necessarily seen a change on the clinical delivery end, though telemedicine is surging again post-COVID. Remote work is prevalent in administrative roles, reducing real estate costs. Firms are finding a balance between on-site and remote work to maximize productivity.
What are the firm’s top priorities for the next two to three years?
Our leadership is expanding our focus from traditional turnarounds to proactive transformations. Alvarez & Marsal is leveraging operational expertise from former industry leaders within the firm. This allows us to support our clients’ trajectories to move upstream instead of waiting for economic distress to become acute, while also continuing to address challenges such as digital, cost and revenue transformations.
