03-25-04

IOWA STATE TO HOST INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE APRIL 2

AMES, Iowa -- Thomas J. Donohue, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington,D.C., will be the keynote speaker of the first "International Business Conference" hosted by Iowa State University'sCollege of Business.

The daylong conference begins at 8:15 a.m., Friday, April 2, Scheman Building, Iowa State Center, Ames. The conferencealso incorporates the R. Dale Voorhees Distinguished Lecture Series on "Managing the Global Supply Chain", alsosponsored by Iowa State's College of Business. Cost for the event is $150; registration is required. Donohue has beenwith the U.S. Chamber of Commerce since 1997. During his tenure, the organization has boosted membership, increasedrevenues, strengthened relations with state and local chambers, and taken a more aggressive lobbying role. The chamberhas also been active with international programs. Prior to joining the chamber, Donohue served for 13 years aspresident and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Association, the national organization for the truckingindustry.

Participants can attend one of two session tracks: The 12th annual Voorhees Distinguished Lecture Series on "Managingthe Global Supply Chain" or "The Global Entrepreneur."

Speakers and their topics for the Voorhees Distinguished Lecture Series are:

• William B. Day, vice president of supply chain management, SYSCO Corporation, Houston, "BuildingSYSCO's Supply Chain." David Ecklund, vice president, client services division, Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc.,Morton, Ill., "Caterpillar's Global Distribution Strategy."
• Beth Ford, senior vice president, global operations and information technology, Scholastic, Inc.,New York City, "Captain Underpants and the Supply Chain Transformation."
• Ken Walker, regional director, Kurt Salmon Associates, Los Angeles, "Supply Chain Efficiency andEffectiveness: Unlocking the Secrets of the CPG Supply Chain of the Future."

Speakers and their topics for the International Entrepreneurship lecture are:

• Jude Conway, partner, Hopewell Ventures, Ltd., Des Moines, "Is Venture Capital Right for my Business?"
• John Holcombe, vice president and partner, Insights Marketing Group, Miami, Fla., "Globalization? WhatGlobalization? The Case for International Market Research and How to Approach It."
• Sheri Bandle, IT business consultant in product management, Cargill, Inc., Minnetonka, Minn., "Total Impact:Corporate Citizenship in a Global Economy."
• Roger Underwood, founder and chief executive, Becker Underwood, Ames, "Think Global, Act Local: Why Every BusinessShould Be Global."

Mike Crum, professor of logistics, operations and management information systems and committee member of theInternational Business Conference, said each of the speakers will focus on "the critical objectives, challenges, andopportunities of conducting business in the global marketplace."

"We are very pleased with the lineup of speakers we have for our first international business conference," Crum said."The speakers will talk about how their organizations are managing their global supply chains as well as howentrepreneurs, large and small, can conduct business internationally. Their companies are diverse with respect to theproducts and services that they offer, which will provide our attendees with insightful perspectives of the globalbusiness environment."

Register online athttp://www.bus.iastate.edu/conference/2004,or contact Iowa State's College of Business at (515) 294-3656,business@iastate.edu.

The Voorhees Distinguished Lecture series was established in honor of Iowa State professor emeritus R. DaleVoorhees.

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