We created a task force to leverage our multidisciplinary strengths in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  More than 50 Abt Associates experts now contribute to HIV/AIDS projects worldwide, including social and economic impact reviews, discharge policies for HIV-infected inmates, behavioral intervention studies, outreach programs, and clinical trials.

Solving Problems, Guiding Decisions — Worldwide

We continued to grow our international business with projects that included the Agriculture-Led Export Business Project in Cairo (ALEB), the Central Asia Sport and Health Education Program, and the Rio Grande de Tarcoles watershed project in Costa Rica.  The ALEB project increased Egyptian food processing companies' ability to export their products to Europe and other markets and helped modernize industry practices.  In the Dominican Republic, we implemented a disaster mitigation program that has trained more than 50,000 Dominican citizens; strengthened emergency preparation and disaster prevention, mitigation, and response; and sharply decreased the loss of life during recent hurricanes.  In 2004, our international revenues surpassed those of our domestic business for the first time.

Two of our most significant international awards during this period were the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Iraq Health Systems Strengthening contract and the USAID Partnership for Health Reformplus (PHRplus) contract, which built upon our prior PHRplus work in more than 40 countries.  Through this work, we assisted dozens of community groups in West and Central Africa in setting up mutual health organizations that allow mainly rural families to make contributions to financial risk-sharing pools that are used to cover charges for healthcare when needed.

Clark Abt
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., had a tremendous global impact.  We created a homeland security program and were awarded homeland defense research projects by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Transportation Security Administration, as well as by the Ford Foundation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory.  Founder Clark Abt has been actively involved in this work.

Continuing our work begun in the 1990s in Central Asia, we have helped implement comprehensive health system reforms.  In Kyrgyzstan, the introduction of a new health financing system created systemwide efficiencies that increased funding for outpatient care and medicine, and reduced the excessive number of buildings and staff.  The new system has resulted in better access to care for the poorest populations.

Domestically, the ongoing National Evaluation of Child Care Subsidy Strategies is a landmark child-care study for this decade.  We are designing and implementing four experiments that will address questions of broad interest to state legislators and administrators to help them make decisions about how to allocate their child-care funds effectively.

The interim evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity Demonstration Program (MTO), a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) initiative to help low-income families move out of high-poverty areas of large cities, has demonstrated decisively that mobile housing subsidies — vouchers — give families many advantages over housing development subsidies.  Even four to seven years later, strong, positive effects are being seen on the safety and quality of the housing and neighborhoods where these families now live.

The recently established behavioral health practice has already made major contributions through work for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  We have conducted a survey of public-school-based mental health services, brokered a merger between two key substance abuse credentialing associations, and helped establish SAMHSA's Women's Trauma Center.

Our commercial business continued to focus on the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and financial services markets.  As a result, we established relationships with one of the country's largest medical diagnostics equipment companies, one of the largest high-technology players, and one of the largest commercial and retail banks.

Abt Associates Clinical Trials (AACT) achieved its first profitable year in 2001, with a client list of many highly recognizable leaders in each target market.  Projects such as a Phase IV clinical study of an anti-obesity drug and an observational registry related to osteoporosis risk helped prepare AACT for additional growth.

John Shane, Henry Aaron, Wendell Knox, Joe Newhouse, Clark Abt, Alison Taunton-Rigby, David Ellwood, Brian Boyle
Abt Associates' Board of Directors, 2004.

Internally, we drove multiple initiatives in pursuit of a common goal — ensuring a more integrated and more effective organization.  We initiated the Leadership Coalition, Project Challenge, the Employee Advisory Council, the Project Quality Advisor System, and the Town Hall Thursday lecture series, as well as the Dan McGillis Development and Dissemination Grant Program.

At the start of the period, we produced gross revenues of $173.4 million — a company record.  We ended the first half of the decade with record gross revenues and profits once again.  We exceeded our financial plan for the 2004 fiscal year, with gross revenues of $198.7 million and profitable financial performance across all Lines of Business.

As Abt Associates begins its 41st year, the company is well positioned for greater growth and performance.  Our emphasis on integrated, multidisciplinary teams and our commitment to making a difference will enable us to continue working together to benefit the lives of people worldwide.

Technology became further
integrated into everyday life.
We were instrumental in many
technology projects, including
the LeadSafeHome website,
an interactive CD-ROM related
to allergic rhinitis, an electronic
diary for tracking smallpox
vaccinations, and a partner
program for a major
high-technology firm.