[068] MTSU Economic Outlook Conference Tackles Issues, Brings Insights

Sept. 1, 2009
CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919; Dr. E. James Burton, 615-898-2764

MTSU’s ECONOMIC OUTLOOK CONFERENCE TACKLES ISSUES, BRINGS INSIGHTS
Conference at the Embassy Suites will feature economic forecaster and perennial favorite Donald Ratajczak

MURFREESBORO, TENN—C. Dowd Ritter, chair, president and CEO of Regions Financial Corporation, will be the keynote speaker at Middle Tennessee State University’s 17th annual Economic Outlook Conference, Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro, with registration beginning at 8:15 a.m. Ritter will speak at 9 a.m.
A registration fee of $60 per person will cover facilities, conference material and lunch. MTSU students may attend free of charge by including a valid “M” number on their registration form. All who wish to attend may register by going to www.mtsu.edu/econconference. Registration deadline is Sept. 21.
The head of one of the nation’s largest banks, Ritter began his banking career in 1969. He held various positions including executive vice president of retail banking, senior executive vice president of the trust division, vice chair of the board and president and COO before attaining his current position. He was named Business Person of the year in 2006 by the Birmingham Business Journal and CEO of the Year in 1998 by the Birmingham News. He was honored as Humanitarian of the Year in 1999 by the Alabama chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. Ritter serves on several boards and is co-chair of the 50th Anniversary Campaign for the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Birmingham Southern College and is a graduate of the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University, where he also teaches.
“Mr. Ritter will speak from the unique vantage point of the head of a bank that survived the economic storms of the last 18 months,” said Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at MTSU. “He will likely have interesting thoughts about what the future of the banking industry may be.”
Burton noted that the conference is targeted especially to bankers, business owners and managers, community officials and leaders, as well as business and economics faculty and students—“and to anyone interested in economic growth in the region and nation.”
Continuing the tradition of providing substantive information, the program also will feature Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, who, at 10:30, will provide a mid-state/regional economic update. The BERC maintains significant databases of regional, national and international information and provides research resources and databases for the MTSU community.
During lunch, Burton and Aubrey B. Harwell Jr., holder of the Jones Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise, will present the Jennings A. Jones Champion of Free Enterprise Award to 76-year-old C.M. “Bill” Gatton, investor, businessman and entrepreneur, whose business interests have included auto dealerships, banks and commercial real estate. Gatton has donated millions of dollars to schools and universities. The University of Kentucky College of Business and Economics bears his name, as does the College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University.
“Mr. Gatton is a student of business and economics as well as a practitioner of the art,” Burton said. “He is a most deserving recipient of this award.”
Dr. Donald Ratajczak, Regent's Professor of Economics Emeritus at Georgia State University and nationally known economic forecaster, will address the luncheon audience. Ratajczak, with his animated style and keen observations, has become a staple of the annual conference.
“Don always has a thought-provoking approach to interpreting national and international data and making it relevant to the issues and problems facing regional businesses,” Burton said.
The conference will dismiss at 1:15 p.m.
The MTSU Economic Outlook Conference is co-sponsored by the Jones College, the Jones Chair in Free Enterprise, the Business and Economic Research Center and the Jack O. Weatherford Chair of Finance.
For more information, call the Jones College at 615-898-2764. The Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center is located at 1200 Conference Center Boulevard in Murfreesboro. The hotel phone number is 615-890-4464.
For MTSU news, go to mtsunews.com.

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Media welcome. If you wish to join us for lunch, please contact Tom Tozer at ttozer@mtsu.edu. Thank you.