Small Midwest College Hosts Global Business Conference

ATCHINSON, KS (11/18/2008)(readMedia)-- A host of blue-chip global business executives are convening at a small college in this tiny Midwestern town to discuss the state of the world economy in hopes of bringing the common sense of small-town America to Wall Street. The Benedictine College School of Business and the school's Cray Center for Entrepreneurship will co-host the first Global Business Conference beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008, in O'Malley-McAllister Auditorium in the Student Union on the college campus, 1020 N. Second St., Atchison, Kan. The conference will feature three consecutive sessions on international issues concerning global finance, real estate development and media. The event, held in conjunction with Global Entrepreneurship Week (Nov. 17-23), is free and open to the public.

"One of our mantras here is to use 'Main Street' to influence Wall Street," said Antonio Soave, executive director of the School of Business. "If we were to use some of the more fundamental aspects of what 'Main Street' advocates, a lot of what we are experiencing right now could have been avoided."

The first session, International Real Estate Development and the Case of Dubai, will feature: Jerry Reinhart, president and CEO of PRS Equities Limited; Graham D. Bell, managing director and co-founder of Bridge Partners-Dubai, and Sergio Pages, vice president of Structure Tec Corporation. The session will run from 9 a.m. until 9:50 a.m. in the O'Malley-McAllister Auditorium.

The second session, International Media, Television, and Film, will feature Doug Deluca, co-executive producer of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live; Greg Berkin, president and CEO of Think Digital, Inc.; and Martin Kupper, founder of Kupper Strategies. The program will run from 10 a.m. to 10:50 a.m., also in O'Malley-McAllister.

The third session, Global Finance and the Current Crisis, features Theresa Schekirke, CEO of Ferrell Capital; Jim Bruce, senior political analyst for the Intelligence Policy Center of the Rand Corporation; Frank Giardini, the managing director of the Exempt Organizations Practice for WTAS Mid-Atlantic division; and Robert Atwell, Chairman and CEO of Nicolet National Bank. This session will run from 11 a.m. until 11:50 a.m. in O'Malley-McAllister Auditorium.

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Recipient: Don Soderquist, former former senior vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and founder of the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics.