FEI Austin June 2026 Breakfast Meeting Cost Intelligence and Price Negotiation

Mark Hay is a cost optimization expert with 5+ years experience helping businesses reduce spend and drive growth through strategic, data led consulting.

With an extensive background of over 20 years in leadership experience in Energy and Manufacturing industries across 50 countries worldwide. 

He has managed multi-million-dollar contracts for some of the industry's leading organizations, served as a plant manager in Texas and is also a qualified ISO Auditor. 

Mark's passion is to help clients procure the best products at the best prices. He leverages his professional expertise to help his clients face their top challenges and achieve their long-term goals. 

Mark is a Strategic Partner for FEI (Financial Executive International) in the Houston, San Antonio, and Austin chapters. Mark is also co-chair for the Houston chapters Professional Development Committee. Mark is also a proud board member of the Houston FEI Foundation where he also serves as Chair of the Golf Committee. 

Mark splits his time between Houston, San Antonio, and Austin and when he is not working is spending time with his wife Rachel and their 2 dogs.

Ted Leitch is a seasoned financial strategist who partners with CFOs to unlock significant, sustainable savings while maintaining high-quality performance. As a Senior Consulting Partner with ERA Group since 2009, he has empowered organizations to achieve 10%–30% savings across major expense categories. Prior to ERA, Ted held senior executive roles at a Fortune 500 financial institution, where he led multi-state sales and operations teams overseeing more than $1 billion in annual production.  He delivered significant gains in productivity, process control, and cost management. His career is defined by a commitment to enhancing financial performance and delivering measurable business value.