[082] MTSU's Economic Outlook Conference Offers Local, National Perspectives

Sept. 7, 2010

MTSU’s ECONOMIC OUTLOOK CONFERENCE OFFERS LOCAL, NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

MURFREESBORO—Thomas E. Skains, chief executive officer of Piedmont Natural Gas, will be the keynote speaker at MTSU’s 18th annual Economic Outlook Conference, Friday, Sept. 24, at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in Murfreesboro, with registration beginning at 8:15 a.m. Skains will speak at 9 a.m.
(MTSU faculty will be admitted free of charge by registering directly with the business dean’s office at 898-2764 [BAS N219]. Faculty should not register online. MTSU students may attend the morning session (excluding lunch) free of charge. Registration deadline is Sept. 17).
The fee for non-MTSU guests is $50 per person.
Skains was elected Piedmont president and COO in 2002 and subsequently became CEO in February 2003—and chairman of the board in December of that same year. Previously he was an attorney and eight years later was named senior vice president at Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. in Houston, Texas. Skains earned his bachelor’s in business administration from Sam Houston State University and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Houston Law School. He is active in several civic and charitable organizations.
“With his background in energy and environmental concerns and his work in areas of technology that are addressing these issues, Thomas Skains is a great headliner for the conference,” commented Dr. Jim Burton, dean of MTSU’s Jennings A. Jones College of Business. “We are honored to welcome an industry leader of his caliber to MTSU and to middle Tennessee.”
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.” The basic premise of the conference, Burton says, is to promote the idea of free enterprise and to promote events that proudly wave that banner.
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.
Dr. Donald Ratajczak, Regent's Professor of Economics Emeritus at Georgia State University and nationally known economic forecaster, will address the luncheon audience at noon. 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. “And he’s often right on target with his forecasts.”
During the lunch break, 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 Stephen B. Smith, chairman of the board of Haury & Smith Contractors, Inc., one of Nashville’s oldest development and home-building companies. The award recognizes a person who exemplifies the ideals of free enterprise through any combination of entrepreneurship, governmental involvement, participation in civic and charitable affairs, and education.
Smith, whose name is synonymous with Blue Raider baseball, is active in community affairs and has won numerous awards for his public service. He attended MTSU and earned three varsity baseball letters and played on the team that won the 1976 Ohio Valley Conference championship. He serves on the MTSU President’s Council, is a former BRAA board member, and in 2004 was inducted into the Blue Raider Sports Hall of Fame. Smith led the effort to raise $5 million to build a new MTSU baseball stadium named after his father, Reese L. Smith Jr. An avid horseman, Smith has served as board member and president of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association. As a rider, he has won 10 world championships and, in 1992, was named Amateur World Grand Champion. A man of diverse interests and skills, Smith also served as national finance co-chair for Lamar Alexander’s presidential campaigns and for the senator’s senate bid in 2008.
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. For more information, call 615-898-2764.

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