State of Region Conference slated Jan. 30

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Economic development and building a globally competitive brand for the state of Ohio are among the topics that will be addressed Jan. 30 during the sixth annual State of Region Conference.

Presented each year by the Bowling Green State University Center for Regional Development, the conference is expected to attract approximately 300 civic and business leaders from throughout the 27-county northwest sector of the state. The event will be held at the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg beginning at 8 a.m.

C. Robert Sawyer, who directs the Economic Development Administration's Chicago Regional Office for the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Coalition, are this year's keynote speakers.

Sawyer will discuss the “State Perspective on Economic Development: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” at 8:45 a.m. As head of the EDA's Chicago office, he is responsible for annually awarding approximately $34 million in grants in his region, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.

Burghard will follow at 9:30 a.m. with a presentation titled “State of Ohio: Building a Globally Competitive Ohio Brand.” A Harley Procter marketing director at Procter & Gamble, Burghard has directed marketing for the P&G Pharmaceuticals business and led the training at P&G's Global Associate Marketing Director College. The Ohio coalition he directs is the marketing arm of the Ohio Department of Development.

At 10:30 a.m., a three-member panel will take a close look at the regional economy from the perspectives of labor, housing and retailing. Bruce Baumhower, president of Local 12 United Auto Workers Union; Dawn Larzelere director of legislative affairs for the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, and Larry Dillin, president of Dillin Consulting Company, will be the panelists.

There is no charge to attend the State of the Region Conference, but space is limited and advance registration is requested. To register, contact Pat Sherman at the BGSU Center for Regional Development, phone 491-372-8710, or email crd@bgsu.edu. Online registration also is available at http://www.bgsu.edu/crd.

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Media Contact:   Teri Sharp, BGSU Media Relations Director, phone 419-372-8587.

(Posted January 23, 2008)