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Paws for Thought: Dayton Chapter Cost Challenge
August 28, 2025 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
During the Financial Management Cost (FMC) Division’s annual program review at Buckley Space Force Base in May 2025, FMC took the opportunity to do something new and issued an ICEAA-inspired cost challenge to its analysts: Paws for Thought, A Pet Ownership Cost Challenge. Three teams (3-4 analysts per team) were announced and given the task of developing a comprehensive lifecycle cost estimate for owning either a pet dog or cat within just 24 hours. Each team was responsible for delivering a 15-minute presentation on their analysis and findings to senior FM leadership that included the following:
• Basic profile of the chosen pet (location, breed, lifestyle, quality of products/services, etc.)
• Initial investment costs (purchase/adoption costs, vaccines, supplies, etc.)
• Recurring, non-recurring costs (food, grooming, emergency vet visit, etc.)
• Risk and uncertainty analysis (health of the pet, emergency pet visits, etc.)
• Scenario analysis (worst case, moderate case, and optimistic case)
• Sensitivity analysis (food, boarding costs, etc.)
All three teams chose to estimate the cost of a pet dog (sorry cat lovers) and were given carte blanche to be a creative as possible with their cost factors and presentation. Join us Thursday, August 28 to hear from the winning team!