Hoffer Inaugurates New VCU “Business Talks Business” Series

By Tom Gresham

George Hoffer, professor of economics at Virginia Commonwealth University and longtime automobile industry researcher, will deliver the first lecture in “Business Talks Business,” a new speakers series developed by the VCU School of Business.

Hoffer, who has studied the auto industry since the 1960s, will speak on the current state of the automobile industry at three separate events in the Richmond area. Hoffer will speak on Oct. 28 at 7:30 a.m. in Room B2165 of Snead Hall on the VCU campus, 301 W. Main St.; on Oct. 29 at 7:30 a.m. at Innsbrook, 4521 Highwoods Parkway; and on Oct. 30 at 7:30 a.m. south of the James River at the Arboretum, 300 Arboretum Place. Each event is open to the public. Registration is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Breakfast is included. For registration, visit http://www.business.vcu.edu/businesstalksbusiness.html, call (804) 828-1485 or e-mail bus-rsvp@vcu.edu.

Hoffer will address a number of critical topics related to the auto industry during his talks, including:

• a postmortem on the Cash for Clunkers program
• the state of used vehicle prices
• the demise of Saturn
• a new vehicle market outlook
• why the auto market is struggling during this recession after thriving during the last one
• how automakers are preparing for new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards

“Business Talks Business” is the VCU School of Business 2009-10 speakers series. Topics will be presented in three different locations, covering downtown, the West End and south of the James. Speakers will include VCU faculty and staff, VCU Business Society members and other experts in the community.

Future scheduled events include Cynthia Schmidt, director of University Marketing at VCU, and Tammy Berwanger, project manager for University Marketing at VCU, speaking about new media marketing (Nov. 11-13), and Karl Bren, founder of GreenVisions Consulting, discussing sustainability and the economics of going green (Jan. 27-29).