Outstanding line-up for Terrigal economic conference

Leading global thinkers on regional development will headline the Australian Regional Economies Conference 2008 to be held in May 2008 at Terrigal.

Professor Brian Dabson from the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri-Columbia will discuss how entrepreneurship works to energise and evolve regional economies.
Professor Dabson has been Research Professor at the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs since November 2004. He is President and CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) and Co-Director of the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. Before coming to the University of Missouri-Columbia, he had been President of CFED (formerly Corporation for Enterprise Development), a Washington DC-based national non-profit organisation dedicated to expanding economic opportunity through asset-building, entrepreneurship, and economic development. He has written and presented extensively on various aspects of economic development policy and practice, with a particular focus in recent years on entrepreneurship and economic development in rural America. Professor Dabson also completed two terms as President of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Forum on Social Innovations.
Professor Dabson will be joined by the man charged with re-building New Orleans after the devastation of cyclone Katrina, Professor Ed Blakely.
Apart from his current challenge of heading the re-construction authority in New Orleans, Professor Blakely is the Director of the Planning Research Centre at the University of Sydney, Chair of the Metropolitan Strategy Reference Panel and the Chair of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney.
Entrepreneur and businessman, Neville Sawyer, will also be a keynote speaker. Mr Sawyer is a former President of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a director of Australian Made Campaign Limited and a member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council. He is a cofounder of Newcastle-based electrical and electronics products manufacturer Ampcontrol.
The NSW Minister for Lands, Rural Affairs and Regional Development, Tony Kelly has agreed to speak at the conference. In his capacity as Minister for Regional Development Mr Kelly is responsible for ensuring regional NSW shares in the economic growth experienced nationally with his Department working with regional communities to help them respond to and manage economic change. The Department works in partnership with local councils and businesses, business organisations and community groups to create new investment and jobs across the State.
The conference will feature other inspirational speakers and economic development experts as well as workshops and practical examples of business, industry and community development. It is designed to provide the latest in theory as well as practical solutions for practitioners, and is targeted to: Business and Industry Leaders, Local Government, Regional Economic andEnterprise Development Entities, Area Consultative Committees, Policy Makers, Academics, Educators and Researchers, Community Development Personnel and Consultants.
The University of Newcastle is the principal sponsor of the conference and it is also supported by Gosford and Wyong Councils, the Department of State and Regional Development, TAFE Hunter, North Coast and New England Institutes and Aus Industry.
The conference is being organised by the Central Coast of NSW Area Consultative Committee in partnership with Central Coast Tourism Inc.
Conference enquiries should be directed to David Bacon at the Central Coast ACC 4322 9533.

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