Southcon/2006 - Blue Ribbon Panel Discussion

Blue Ribbon Panel Discussion

Moderator, Butch Shadwell (Shadwell Technical Services and a Member of Southcon's Board of Directors) Has chosen an elite and knowledgeable group of panelists who will explore the issues facing U.S. design and manufacturing personnel. This discussion hopes to identify specific strategies that will enable American businesses and skilled labor to thrive in this fierce global competition. Clearly, there is pressure for American companies to displace local talent with less expensive talent found overseas, but this path is not without risks and hidden expenses. What is the correct cost/benefit model to use when making this decision, and how do American workers stay at the top of the talent supply? As Southcon is co-located with AmCon (American Contract Manufacturers show), this discussion promises to be a lively and productive event.

Panelists:
Dr. Ron Hira is Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Rochester Institute of Technology where he specializes in engineering workforce issues and technology policy. Ron is author of the book, Outsourcing America, published by the American Management Association. He is a recognized expert on offshore outsourcing and has testified before the US Congress twice on its implications. He has given numerous talks on offshore outsourcing at universities, to policy makers and to the general public. Ron is frequently quoted and interviewed in major newspapers and magazines and on television and radio.

Mr. George McClure is a member of the IEEE USA Career & Workforce Policy Committee and is an IEEE Life Fellow with more than thirty years of experience in communications electronics and aerospace. He holds two patents in cellular system design and lately has watched the manufacture of handsets move to China. He practiced engineering in communications electronics, systems design, research and technology and program management for more than thirty years with Martin Marietta Aerospace(now Lockheed Martin), and edited an IEEE Press book on land-mobile communications engineering.

Mr. Richard McCormack is editor and publisher of Manufacturing & Technology News, a twice-per-month journal covering the latest trends in industry and government policies. Mr. McCormack has spent twenty-four years in Washington, D.C. as a journalist and editor covering science, technology, industry and government. Founding editor of Federal Electronic Commerce Report in 1996; High Performance Computing and Communications Week in 1992; and New Technology Week in 1987, he is author of the 2002 book Lean Machines, Learning From the Leaders of the Next Industrial Revolution. Mr. McCormack has won numerous awards for investigative, analytical and interpretive reporting. His work has been published in hundreds of periodicals and journals, and his editorial work has been cited in publications like the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. He has appeared on CNN, CPAN and PBS, and is a guest lecturer at the National Defense University.

Mr. Brett Kingstone, Chairman of the Board, Super Vision International. Brett Kingstone started his first fiber optic company in his college dormitory at Stanford University at the age of nineteen. He received his first order after strapping a fiber optic letter “A” on the back of his motorcycle and racing down Highway 5 to visit the Imagineers at Disney. The company moved to a small Palo Alto bungalow with a detached garage. When business was good, the company expanded out of the garage and into the backyard. Super Vision, later established in Orlando, Florida has been honored as one of the Top 500 Fastest Grown Technology Companies in the United States, Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies in the State of Florida, Top 100 Companies for Working Families in Central Florida and earned the Industry of the Year Award in Orange County. Brett has been awarded twelve U.S. patents and more than twenty-seven foreign patents on fiber optic and LED lighting technology and has authored three books - The Real War Against America; The Student Entrepreneurs Guide; and The Dynamos.

Dr. Helen Parker, Regional Administrator, Employment and Training Administration, U. S. Department of Labor has more than twenty years of experience in the fields of employment, labor and training. She served as chief of job training at the Metro Atlanta SDA where she ran a five-county JTPA program. She was assistant commissioner for employment services at the Georgia Department of Labor, and most recently, regional administrator of employment and training administration for the U.S. Department of Labor. In 1990, Dr. Parker received the U.S. Department of Labor’s Special Achievement Award; in 1991 the Miller Merit Award; in 1996 Vice President Gore’s National Performance Review “Hammer” Award; and in 1999 the Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies President’s Award.

Mr. Greg Papandrew is President and Founder of Bare Board Group, a worldwide distributor of printed circuit boards with offices in the United States and Taiwan. Greg has spent more than ten years in the PCB industry providing sales and service to customers who require overseas PCB manufacture. He also is a columnist for Circuits Assembly Magazine.