April 8, 2002 – The Women's Business Center is getting ready for "Emerging Businesses and Their Role in the New Economy," the Center's third annual economic development conference.
The conference will be held April 18 through April 20 at the Divi Carina Bay Resort on St. Croix. Hotel reservations can be made by calling 800-801-5550 or 340-773-9700 for a conference rate of $95 per night.
This year will be a tough year for business, said a release, and for emerging businesses in particular. The Center has lined up three days of presenters on a variety of topics that promise to be helpful to local businesspeople and particularly to new enterpreneurs.
Center director Yvette deLaubanque is pleased that the international community is becoming aware of this conference through the Internet. "We have registrants from Nepal, Albania, Bangladesh, who learned of the conference through the Internet," she said, noting they do not otherwise have a local connection. There are numerous registrants from the United States, and she surmises they are planning to combine the conference with a vacation.
Conference fees are $75 daily, $140 for two days, $210 for the full conference, or $300 for conference including the Saturday evening gala. The fee for students with IDs is $50 per day. While fees can be paid on-site conference days, the organizers are asking that attendees register by Tuesday, in order that meal plans can be finalized.
For conference registration, call 340-773-4995, or go to the Center's website at www.wbcvi.org. St. Thomas and St. John persons who pre-register may be picked up upon their arrival and transported to the resort, deLaubanque said, and the Divi courtesy transportation is available to St. Croix registrants.
The conference keynote speaker will be Robert B. Washington Jr., president of Caribbean Lottery Services, and the closing gala keynote speaker will be Stephanie Tubbs Jones, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 11th District.
Before she became a Representative, Tubbs Jones had been a trial attorney and an assistant county prosecutor, according to her web site. She participates in a wide variety of civic and professional organizations, and is active in the Democratic Caucus within the House of Representatives. She has degrees, including a doctorate in law, from Case Western Reserve University and Flora Mather College.
More biographical and political details are available at her official government website, www.house.gov/tubbsjones.
Among the presenters:
On Thursday, insight and information will be presented by persons including:
— Andy Ingram, President of Horizons Marketing
— Kathleen Dyer, Principal of Booz, Allen & Hamilton
— Peggy Duncan, President of Duncan Resources
On Friday WBC presents women of "Power, Passion and Purpose" featuring: Brooke Stevens, Joann Tolbert Yancey, Jewel Daniels Radford, Denise Armstrong, and Jennifer Nugent Hill, vice president at Tropical Shipping.
Saturday will feature a special Youth Session along with workshops in:business etiquette; successful negotiation; and body, mind and spirit combinations for successful businesses. The evening gala will include the award of the 2002 Empowerment award to Elizabeth Armstrong.
The above presenters and many more are listed, with photo and biography, on the WBC website. They include University of the Virgin Islands vice president for administration and finance Malcolm Kirwan, Port Authority planning and development officer Darlan Brin, special assistant to the UVI president William DeLone, "Black Enterprise" editor Sonia Alleyne, and president and CEO of Positive Images Consulting firm Rogina Smith.
The release urges persons in the following categories to attend the conference: new and established entrepreneurs, career executives, home-based business owners, agency administrators and supervisors, government employees; women with strength, vision and determination; women with courage, character and fortitude; women with knowledge and direction; and entrepreneurs seeking knowledge and direction.
Call 340-773-4985 or visit the WBC website for more information.
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