8:00am, Session 1. US and Arizona International Business Initiatives.

Dorde Cedic, co-president, Cedic Development Co. and secretary of a family foundation, Cultural Exchange Worldwide, operates real estate and retail ventures in central and northern Arizona and has spent nineteen years in the non-profit sector sponsoring hundreds of delegations with over a thousand participants from around the world, partnering with all Arizona universities, the US Departments of State, Commerce and Agriculture, Sister Cities of Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, and numerous private NGOs. He will address "The Human Side of Capitalism: Beyond the Numbers."

Ellen S. House, desk officer, Office of Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, US Department of Commerce. Ms. House, formerly of the Commerce Department's Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States (BISNIS), will talk about how her office and other Commerce Department units assist US companies seeking to enter or already active in Eurasian markets.

Eric Nielsen, director, Arizona US Export Assistance Center, US Commercial Service with operations in Phoenix and Tucson. The Arizona USEAC is part of a network of 250+ US Commercial Service offices worldwide providing end-to-end solutions for US exporters. In Arizona, Mr. Nielsen manages a team of four international trade specialists and coordinates partnerships with a wide variety of economic development organizations. Prior to joining the US Department of Commerce, he worked for the City of Tucson Office of Economic Development, where he helped technology companies increase their sales in both Europe and Asia. The topic of his presentation is "US Commercial Service: Your Sales Channel Partner."

Dr. E. LaBrent Chrite, associate dean and director of MBA Programs in Management and Organizations at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. Before arriving in Tucson, Dr. Chrite spent 14 years at the University of Michigan. Most recently, he was the director of the flagship research and outreach institute at the University of Michigan Business School, the William Davidson Institute, focusing on the transformation of transition and emerging market economies from post central-command to more advanced economic status. Dr. Chrite has been actively involved in research, teaching and technical assistance engagements in emerging and transition markets around the world. These include dozens of countries in sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. He has led research and assistance projects for the World Bank Group, US Department of State, the Eurasia Foundation and the US Agency for International Development. He will present on the role of management education on local and regional economic development in emerging markets, focusing on public and private sector partnerships and the importance of aligning stakeholder interests in order to facilitate economic productivity, human capital development, and overall competitiveness.

10:00am, Session 2, CIS and Eastern Europe: The Political and Economic Scene and Business Opportunities.

György Rėtfalvi, CEO and ITDH (The Hungarian Investment and Trade Development Agency) will provide information on the Hungarian economic and business Environment, central and local government incentives for investors, investment and trade opportunities, and matchmaking companies for joint ventures.

Elman Abdullayev, Consul in the Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan, responsible for economic issues, especially promoting trade relations between western states of US and Azerbaijan.  Mr. Abdullayev will share the government's vision--not limited to oil alone--as the country pays special attention to developing Azerbaijan's economy outside the energy sector, an endeavor in which California's experience in areans from agriculture to alternative energy to developing new technologies can be especially valuable.   

Dmitry Beskurnikov, executive director, Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the US and director of San Francisco Global Trade Council. With a career spanning from international trade policies to financial and investment matters, he has gained substantial experience in international bilateral and multi-lateral negotiations as a member of government delegations of the Russian Federation and the former Soviet Union. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RF CCI) is a unique public institution. Vertically, it represents the interests of all tiers of business—small, medium-sized and large. Horizontally, its activities embrace all areas of entrepreneurship: industry, domestic and foreign trade, agriculture, financial systems, and services. Another top-priority activity of the RF CCI is providing practical aid to Russian businessmen establishing business contacts with foreign partners. Mr. Beskurnikov’s presentation will focus on RF CCI’s role as a tool in promoting the development of economic ties between the Russian Federation and the US.

Ljubomir Postic, Third Secretary for Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia. A graduate of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics, he pursued a diplomatic career within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2005, he has worked as a commercial attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Washington, DC. He will provide an overview of Serbia's recent economic development, investment opportunities, success stories, and present some of the features of the business environment that makes Serbia a favorable location for investing.

1:00pm, Session 3 Case Studies. Technology Transfer.

Don McClure, president of Digital Element, Inc. "Your local partner with international expertise." Digital Element specializes in local, market-savvy technical leadership and publishing; offshore engineering for mobile platforms; 3D and 2D visualization; and general software for the education, medical, and media markets. He will focus on "Price versus Quality – the evolution of Russia as a technology development partner."

Doug Goodman, managing partner of Ridgetop Capital, LLC, a privately-held Arizona based investment firm. Ridgetop Capital and its principals have made investments in a diverse set of business opportunities over the years including technology firms (medical, software, and semiconductor) and real estate (office buildings and forest land.) Mr. Goodman is also CEO of a well-established technology firm producing fault-tolerant electronic solutions for critical applications. He is a co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Arizona Nanotechnology Cluster. For technology-based businesses, the cultural gap between the CIS and Eastern European countries on one hand and the US on the other presents unique challenges to entrepreneurs using engineering resources from those countries. Mr. Goodman will describe his experiences and "case histories" in the development of high-technology commercial products for the fast-growing semiconductor industry using offshore engineering personnel in Ukraine, Armenia, and Russia, and compare the results obtained from firms in India and France. Based on this experience, and those of his US-based colleagues, he will describe "best practices" for firms employing offshore resources, and the opportunities that they can provide to partners in Eastern Europe and former Soviet Republics to grow their expertise and leverage their technical backgrounds. He will include the kinds of investment criteria that Ridgetop Capital applies to its investments. 

Gennady Serdyuk, co-founder of Verixiom, Inc-startup, which specializes on hardware design outsourcing. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Serdyuk worked as head of Ridgetop Group's Kiev Office. He is involved with Ukrainain High-tech Initiative, a non-profit organization, which serves as a hub, helping find customers for Ukrainian companies. Mr. Serdyuk will describe the present state and prospects of offshore software and hardware (electronics) development in Ukraine, along with particularities, which follow from Ukrainian legislation and present resources.

Dr. Robert P. Breault, chairman and founder of the Breault Research Organization, Inc. (BRO), an optical engineering software developer and consulting company. He has participated in the analysis of renowned space-based sensors such as the Hubble Telescope, IRAS, DIRBE, IBSS, ISO, GALILEO, CASSINI (in orbit around Saturn), as well as many military optical sensors. He has been Co-Chairman of the Arizona Optics Industry Association (AOIA) since 1992, a statewide organization dedicated to the development of the optics industry as an important economic resource to the state of Arizona. He has helped export this concept into the international arena and has played a role in the formation of the optics clusters in Arizona and 29 other regions of the world. He has been a participant at regional, national, and global economic development meetings. He is a past Founding Board member and past Vice-President of the Competitiveness Institute based in Barcelona, Spain. He has played an instrumental role in the startup of several foreign optics related companies around the world. He is the principal owner of a technology holding company called Inqutek (Tucson.) Dr. Breault will focus on: "The Growth of the Arizona Optics Cluster in the Last Few Years."

3:30pm Session 4. Food and Health Industry.

Ned Lyerle, senior vice president, global franchise development, for CKE which owns the Carl’s Jr. and Hardees restaurant chains. Mr. Lyerly has almost 30 years of international business development experience. CKE Restaurants is a $3.5 billion a year publicly traded company. Mr. Lyerly will speak about

Bill Washburn, president, Foodpro International, Inc., a consulting engineering firm that offers a complete range of services to the food industry from concept development through the start-up of new or expanded operation. Mr. Washburn will share his views about "Doing the Right Things vs. Doing Things Right," some of the recent dramatic changes, and just how to survive and profit by doing business in this exciting part of the world.

Don K. Sowers, CEO and founder of Global Medical Staffing, LLC, specializes in recruiting and training international nurses for registered nursing jobs in the US. The company has its headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina and has offices in Bucharest, Romania; Chisinau, Moldova; Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine; and Budapest, Hungary. The company will start up operations in Poland in the Fall of 2007. Mr. Sowers is an experienced consultant, manager and educator. From 1974-1981, he was a Foreign Service Officer with the US State Department serving in Europe and Africa. Since 1993, he has operated Cornerstone Consulting, Inc., a general management consulting firm with domestic and international clients. The title of his presentation: "Westward Ho! The Global Migration of Medical Professionals from East to West."

5:00pm, Session 5. Investment and Finance.

William Edwards, president of Edwards Global Services, Inc.(EGS), a consulting firm that specializes in identifying, evaluating, planning, implementing and directing projects that grow the global business of small-to-large private and public companies using personal experience, expertise, knowledge, global network, and proprietary processes. Mr. Edwards has 34 years of successful international operations, development, executive and entrepreneurial experience in the oil and gas, information technology, management consulting and licensing sectors. The topic of his presentation is "Comparing Countries as Places to Do Business."

Tim C. Bruinsma, partner and head of the International Practice Group in the Los Angeles office of Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP. As a transactional business attorney, Mr. Bruinsma provides legal representation in connection with mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, commercial transactions, and project finance with an emphasis on international transactions. Mr. Bruinsma will focus on new opportunities for project finance in Russia and the CIS.

8:30am, Session5 (Continuing). Investment and Finance.

Radomil Novak, founder and CEO of CzechINVENT Technologies Agency and CEO of CzechUS, LLC a consulting company based in California. Prior to founding CzechINVENT, Mr. Novak was CEO of CzechInvest, the national investment and development agency of the Czech Republic. Under his supervision, CzechInvest attracted record levels of capital from high-tech companies working in the biotech, pharmaceutical, microelectronic, and other industries. Since joining CzechInvest in 1996, Mr. Novak has played a central role in shaping key economic and investment policies for the Czech Republic. In his presentation he will focus on applied research and innovation.

Yulia A. Vasileva, president of Transamerican Trade Consulting, LLC. For the past year, Yulia Vasileva has been working as a co-founder and the president of Transamerican Trade Consulting. Transamerican Trade Consulting is specializing in facilitation of commercial transactions between Russian, CIS, and North American businesses. She is also a program manager for the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the US. Her presentation topic is "Transam TC—Your Reliable Partner During Your Whole Stay on The New Market."

Dr. Robert Bowie of Russian Mindsets Consultancies, studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, while serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam Era. He later taught Russian language, literature, folklore and culture at Miami University for thirty years. He spent one year on a Fulbright Scholar Grant in Russia. Among other activities, he has worked as translator and jack-of-all-trades for the International Red Cross in Central Asia, presented lectures on fund raising in Kiev, Ukraine, and Minsk, Belarus, and coordinated seminars on mutual funds, run by PaineWebber in St. Petersburg, Russia. Dr. Bowie now works, primarily, as a cross-cultural consultant, running orientations for Russian professionals who have recently relocated to the United States to work in American business and for American businesspersons about to relocate to Russia. The topic of Dr. Bowie’s presentation is "Risky Business (Demographics, Geopolitics, Economics): Problems Facing Russia in the Near and Distant Future."

Alexander Aginsky of Aginsky Consulting Group(ACG) specializes in strategic market entry and global business development for clients interested in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Mr. Pitter’s successful career includes business analyst positions with prestigious organizations such as the European Union, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Nixon Center. ACG is an internationally recognized boutique consulting firm focused on providing a range of management consulting services to mid-sized companies doing business in emergin markets around the globe, particularly in the former Soviet Union. The amount of options a business owner faces in developing his or her company has expanded exponentially due to global opportunities offered by emerging economies. Mr. Pitter will address the questions about risks and strategies companies should consider when conducting business in Russia and the CIS, and the numerous benefits they can obtain by doing so.

10:00am, Session 6. Discussion and Marketing led by

William Edwards, President of Edwards Global Services, Inc. (EGS), a consulting firm that helps small to mid-sized companies "Go International." Mr. Edwards will facilitate a general meeting of participants to help identify "haves" and "wants" and attempt to do matchmaking.

Further information on this year's program and our speakers can be obtained by emailing Sarah Monks.