Forum to Examine Global Business Environment for VCU, Central Virginia

By Tom Gresham

A panel of leaders in government, industry and higher education will discuss the global economy's impact on Central Virginia on Feb. 27 at the 13th Annual International Business Forum at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"VCU, Central Virginia and the Global Business Environment: Sustaining our Competitiveness in a Flat World" will begin at 3 p.m. in the VCU Student Commons Commonwealth Ballrooms, 907 Floyd Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

Panel members include Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, former governor of Virginia; VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D.; James R. Weigand, global business director for Advanced Fiber Systems at DuPont; and Mark S. Cross, senior vice president for Strategic Marketing and International Business Development at MeadWestvaco. Van R. Wood, Ph.D., professor of international marketing at VCU and Philip Morris Endowed Chair in International Business, will moderate the event.

Panelists will examine how the forces of globalization affect life in Richmond and Central Virginia, and the role of community – including academia, business and government – in meeting the challenges of an interconnected world.

The VCU School of Business established the International Business Forum in conjunction with a number of Richmond organizations in 1994. Richmond-based Universal Corporation has been the major sponsor for the past 12 years. The purpose of the forum is to raise awareness among students, faculty and the business community of the global nature of commerce and how this links to events both at home and abroad.

For more information, contact Milena Petrova Ivanova at 804-828-9425.