April 18, 2001

E-Commerce the Focus of Global Automotive Conference

Bowling Green, Ky. -The rapid growth in electronic business platforms will be the focus of next week's Global Automotive Conference 2001.

The program is geared toward middle managers of automotive manufacturers and suppliers, but the conference will provide relevant information and training for managers of other businesses, said Jim Blankenship, co-chair of the event and president of Bando Manufacturing USA.

"E-commerce is a topic that crosses all industries," Blankenship said.

"Engines of Change: Get Used to Higher RPMs or Stall Out" is the theme of the second annual conference April 25-27 at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention in Bowling Green. Ford Motor Company and Western Kentucky University are co-sponsors.

"The Global Automotive Conference is important for our community, our state and our country," Kentucky House Speaker Jody Richards said Wednesday during a news conference to promote the event. Providing the incentive package that lured Toyota to Georgetown in the late 1980s "was the single act that started a renaissance in Kentucky," Richards said.

The corridor of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee has become an important player in the automotive industry with Kentucky ranked third in the nation in auto production, Richards said. Fifteen major manufacturing facilities and 2,000-3,000 suppliers are within a day's drive of Bowling Green.

The conference also serves as a tool for economic development, state senators Brett Guthrie and Richie Sanders said.

When representatives from Ford, General Motors, Toyota, General Electric, Dell, Microsoft and other companies are in Bowling Green, they will learn that the infrastructure and the educational system is in place to support high-tech industry, the legislators said.
Dr. Robert Jefferson, dean of the Gordon Ford College of Business, said conference is an example of how Western partners with the community and industry to provide educational opportunities for students.

"All business today is global business," said William Parsons, executive professor in the WKU Office of Global Business and Entrepreneurship. "Everyone is impacted by technology. How to apply it in our daily lives, how to apply it in our business lives and how to apply it in the classroom is so important."

GAC 2001 will focus on four areas:

· The effect e-commerce will have on the relationship between OEM's (original equipment manufacturers) and suppliers;
· How suppliers can use e-commerce to achieve a competitive advantage;
· The role e-commerce will play in global market and workforce development;
· Emerging "e-technologies."

The Global Automotive Conference is administered by WKU's Office of Global Business and Entrepreneurship and San Diego State University's Center for International Business and Education Research. About 20 other businesses and agencies provide support.

For information on the conference program or to register online, visit the GAC 2001 website at www.gac.ky.net. For other information, call the Office of Global Business and Entrepreneurship at (270) 745-6481 or 1-877-604-8971 or send an E-mail to global.business@wku.edu