2004 Rural Partners Forum
Agenda
September 30, 2004
- 1:00 Registration Opens
- 3:00 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: $20 MILLION INVESTMENT IN RURAL COMMUNITIES (Grand Ballrooms 3-4)
- Tom Lambeth, Chairman, Rural Center Board of Directors
Billy Ray Hall, President, Rural Center
Senator Marc Basnight, President Pro Tem of the N.C. Senate
Representative Jim Black, Co-Speaker of the N.C. House
Representative Bill Daughtridge, N.C. House
- 3:30 CREATING HOME GROWN JOBS IN THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE (Grand Ballrooms 3-4)
- Moderator: Jim Clinton, Executive Director, Southern Growth Policies Board
Leslie Schweitzer, Senior Trade Advisor, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Tom Vesce, President, Log Cabin Homes, Ltd, Rocky Mount
Allyson Porter, Managing Partner, Keika Ventures, Chapel Hill
- 5:00 Reception (Pre-function Area)
- 6:30 RURAL PARTNERS BANQUET (Grand Ballrooms 3,4,5)
- Entertainment: Grains of Time, N.C. State University
Keynote Address: North Carolina & the Nation - A Vision for Rural Economic Prosperity
Dr. Karl Stauber, President, Northwest Area Foundation
- 8:30 Events Conclude
October 1, 2004
- 7:00 Breakfast Buffet (Pre-function area)
- Registration Opens
- 8:00 EMBRACING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS AN ECONOMIC STRATEGY IN RURAL NORTH CAROLINA (Grand Ballrooms 3,4,5)
- Welcome
Tom Lambeth, Chairman, Rural Center Board
Opening Address: Entrepreneurship & the New South: Rediscovering our Economic Strength
William Bynum, CEO and President, Enterprise Corporation of the Delta
Report on the Impact of Small Business & Entrepreneurship in Rural North Carolina
Jean Crews-Klein, Vice-President, Business & Natural Resource Development, Rural Center
Pushing the Envelope: N.C. Entrepreneurs Share their Dreams, Challenges & Successes
John Troy, Owner, The Wizard's Cauldron, Yanceyville
Fred Myer, Owner, Myers Investigative and Security Services, Inc., Dunn
Joe Miller, Owner, Cheap Joe's Art Stuff, Boone
- 9:30 Break
- Registration Opens
- 10:00 CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS: INNOVATION IN THE NEW RURAL ECONOMY
- Rural Communities & Entrepreneurship Development (Salon D)
Ten Things Rural Communities Can Do to Foster Homegrown Jobs
Moderator: Leslie Scott, Director, Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship, Rural Center
This workshop will provide a mini-training session on entrepreneurship and small business development in rural communities and will feature communities that are currently embarked on innovative entrepreneurship development projects.
Rural Communities & Agricultural Development (Salon E)
Expert Advice on Getting Your Agriculture/Agribusiness Project Funded
Charles Hall, Director, Agricultural Advancement Consortium
Mark Sorrells, Senior Vice President, Golden LEAF
William Upchurch, Executive Director, Tobacco Trust Fund Commission
Smithson Mills, Agribusiness Specialist, N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
Rural Communities & Workforce Development (Salon F)
Practical Solutions for Helping Dislocated Workers & Small Businesses
Moderator: Anne Scharff, Senior Associate, Workforce Development, Rural Center
Roger Shackleford, Executive Director, Commission on Workforce Development, N.C. Dept. of Commerce
Bill Schweke, VP of Learning and Innovation, Corporation for Enterprise Development
Deborah Markley, Co-Director, Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
Rural Communities & Information Technology Development (Salon G)
Stories from the Trenches-Connectivity & Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities
Moderator: Jane Smith Patterson, Executive Director, E-NC Authority
Jeff Byrd, Editor/Publisher, Tryon Daily Bulletin: PANGAEA Network, Polk County
Alex Goodwin, Student, NCSU: PINE Network, Pamlico County
Stan Crowe, Chair, Martin County EDC: Northeast Technology & Business Center
Dale Carroll, Director, Advantage West: Western N.C. Broadband Deployment
Curtis Wynn, President/CEO, Roanoke Electric Cooperative: Roanoke Center
- 11:30 RURAL HOMEGROWN JOBS 2004 (Grand Ballrooms 3,4,5)
- Billy Ray Hall, moderating
The Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship: 2004 Report Card, Action Plan for the Future
Leslie Scott, Institute Director, Rural Center
Special Announcement: New Opportunities for Rural Workers
Martin Lancaster, President, North Carolina Community College System
Small Business Agenda, North Carolina Department of Commerce
Jim Fain, North Carolina Secretary of Commerce
CEREMONY HONORING NORTH CAROLINA'S SMALL BUSINESSES
Scott Daugherty, Executive Director, Small Business & Technology Development Center
Secretary Fain, President Lancaster & Board Chair Tom Lambeth
North Carolina Rural Small Business Owners
- 12:30 Closing Lunch Buffet (Pre-function area)
