Friday, November 30, 2007
8:30 am to 6:00 pm
Sheraton Hotel, 870 Williston Road
South Burlington, Vermont

The program for this one-day event includes a lineup of nationally recognized guest speakers, panel discussions featuring accomplished Vermonters from media and business, and an opportunity to meet with people who share a concern for the future of the state and its prospects in the new global economy.

You may register and pay the admission fee on-line by clicking the "Pay Now" button below, or you can download a registration form and return it by regular mail with a check.  The fee is $75.00 and includes a buffet lunch. A portion of your registration fee for the Vermont Tiger symposium will be donated for the support of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Burlington.

8:30
9:00
9:30
10:15
10:30
12:00
1:30
2:15
2:30
3:45
4:00
4:45
5:00

Registration. Coffee and bagels
Welcome and introductions
Address by David Audretsch: "The Entrepreneurial Society"
Break
Panel Discussion: moderated by Emerson Lynn
Lunch
Address by Amity Shlaes: “Entitlements and States: the Great Power Grab”
Break
Panel Discussion: moderated by Mark Johnson
Break
Address by P.J. O’Rourke: "Pirates in Neckties: Politics vs. Business -- Which is Worse?"
Thank you and Goodbye
Cocktails and book signing
 

Featured guest speakers:

P.J. O’Rourke, America’s finest political satirist, has written for many publications, including The National Lampoon (which he first joined in 1973, becoming editor-in-chief in 1978), Automobile, American Spectator, Playboy, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Harper's. He was also the Foreign Affairs Desk Chief for Rolling Stone, a position which allowed him to expose the hypocrisies of world politics from the Persian Gulf to the Philippines. O’Rourke’s best-selling books include Parliament of Whores, Holidays in Hell, Give War a Chance, and All the Trouble in the World. His most recent book, On the Wealth of Nations was described by Allan Sloan, writing in the New York Times, as “a hardcover blog, in which O’Rourke cites Smith’s essential points, and riffs while preaching Smithian doctrine … You’ll pick up a few good lines, you’ll see a primo stylist at work. And you’ll see why Adam Smith is so often quoted but so rarely read.”
David Audretsch, Director of the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, Germany, also serves as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Audretsch's research has focused on the links between entrepreneurship, government policy, innovation, economic development and global competitiveness. Audretsch is ranked as the 21st most cited scholar in economics and business, in the period of 1996-2006. His books include Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth, with Oxford University Press in 2006 and The Entrepreneurial Society, (also with Oxford University Press) in 2007. Richard Florida, author of, Rise of the Creative Class, comments: "The Industrial Society of the 1950s and 60s is over. In its place is emerging a new Entrepreneurial Society and culture. How can business adapt? Which countries and regions will win and lose? What does it mean for you? David Audretsch provides the answers in this important book."
Amity Shlaes, is a syndicated columnist at Bloomberg and a visiting senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations. She has written for the New Yorker, Fortune, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, National Review, and The Wall Street Journal where she was a member of the editorial board. Ms. Shlaes most recent book, The Forgotten Man is a best selling treatment of the Great Depression. Noted historian Paul Johnson said of this book: “Readers have waited eagerly for this book for a decade. Amity Shlaes has produced it.”
 

 

Panelists:
Art Woolf, editor-at-large, of vermonttiger.com, was the State Economist for Governor Madeleine Kunin from 1988 to 1991. Woolf is a partner, with Richard Heaps, in Northern Economic Consulting Inc. and together, they produced the widely discussed report, Off the Rails, an analysis of Vermont’s demographics and economic prospect.
Ann Zuccardy, President and CEO of Vermont Shortbread Company with a client base reaching coast to coast and beyond. This year, as far as Nicaragua, Great Britain, and Korea. Zuccardy serves on the executive board of Wild Women Entrepreneurs, an organization that encourages women entrepreneurs to reach their full potential in business and in life.
Jack Harding, founder of eSilicon, is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Development Strategies, a member of the Washington, D.C. based Council on Competitiveness, and a former National Academies’ Committee member for Software, Growth and the Future of the U.S. Economy. He is a frequent lecturer on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Mark Johnson, host of an influential, widely followed morning call-in program on radio station WDEV. His show serves as a meeting place and forum for the discussion of important issues and ideas. Johnson is known -- and respected -- for his civility and openness as a host, moderator, and journalist. He has received several awards for broadcasting excellence and also appears on Vermont Public Television.
Ben Weiss, founder and past president of Ai Squared in Manchester, a software development company that specializes in products for the visually impaired. Ben grew the company from a one-man operation to a worldwide leader in computer accessibility.
Bill Schubart, CEO of Resolution, Inc., a leader in e-commerce customer care, consumer and educational fulfillment and wholesale distribution from a single inventory for major publishers, broadcasters and marketers. He is a former chairman of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He writes about Vermont in fiction, humor and opinion pieces and does commentary for VPR.

Allan Rodgers, Director of the Workforce & Business Development for the Vermont State Colleges. VSC provides education and training to 20,000 Vermonters in over 2,000 companies and start-ups. Rodgers is also a member of Vermont State Colleges faculty, teaching courses in small business management, strategic planning, leadership, organizational behavior, human resourcesmanagement, nonprofit management, and operations management.

Cairn Cross, co-founder of FreshTracks Capital and serves as a Managing Director of FreshTracks Capital I (formed 2001) and FreshTracks Capital II (formed 2007). He is on the board of Vermont Teddy Bear, EatingWell Media Group, Trident (owns the assets of Clearsource, a water bottler) and is a board observer to Isis and NativeEnergy all portfolio companies of either FreshTracks Capital I or II. 

Emerson Lynn, editor and publisher of the St. Albans Messenger, writes often about the economic challenges facing Vermont.
Christopher Ellis is a partner in Consensus Advisors, a Boston-based investment banking firm specializing in retail and consumer products. He has represented a great many Vermont-based businesses over the years raising capital and advising on transactions. He was at the forefront of attempting to introduce CAPCOs to Vermont, a venture-capital raising idea that has since been adopted by dozens of states generating billions in seed capital investment and tens of thousands of jobs.
Dawn Terrill is the co-owner and President of JaniTech, a commercial office cleaning provider in northeast Vermont. She returned to the private sector in August 2006 after serving as the Vermont Secretary of Transportation. Ms. Terrill is a member of the Champlain College Board of Trustees as well as a Director of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority, the Vermont Center for Employee Ownership, and the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce. A native Vermonter, she lives in Colchester with her husband Steve. Ms. Terrill holds degrees in accounting as well as business administration and economics.
April Cornell's designs are showcased in products by leading vendors including Danica/Now Designs, Manual Woodworkers, and Moda Fabric. She also designs clothing, housewares and accessories for her retail stores in Canada and on-line operations in the US. She is a member of the Board of Champlain College and The Giving World Foundation – a charity giving a hand up – not a handout to those in need – primarily in India.