International business conference hosted in Upstate

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The World Affairs Council Upstate will host its inaugural Global Upstate Conference on International Business and Foreign Affairs on March 29-31 in Greenville and Spartanburg.

More than 56 scholars, business leaders and community players representing international companies, government agencies, national think tanks, universities and the military will speak at Furman University and the University of South Carolina Upstate throughout the event.

The program begins on Tuesday with the International Trade Breakfast with the S.C. Consular Corps and later features a lunch panel discussing Global Security: An International Military Perspective featuring Brig. Gen. Henrik Larsen and Brig. Gen. Muhammad Janjua, and a Keynote Ambassador Dinner featuring ambassadors John Herbst, Robert Blake, Philip Kosnett and W. Robert Pearson, according to a news release.

Panel discussion topics will include:

· Russia and Its Neighbors with Herbst, retired ambassador to Ukraine and Uzbekistan and director of Atlantic Council; Larsen, Denmark senior national representative to Central Command; David Manning, author of Global Arms, In Defense of Eurasia; Kosnett, retired ambassador to Kosovo and acting deputy ambassador in Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Iceland; and Donald Morrison, Europe editor of PORT and former editor of “World Section” for Time magazine.

· Transportation Issues in South Carolina with Dave Edwards, president and CEO of Greenville Spartanburg Airport District; Stephen D. Van Beek, director of the Steer Group; Micah Mallace, senior vice president of marketing and sales at S.C. Ports Authority; Brian Gwin, senior industrial development manager at Norfolk Southern Corp.; and Rick Todd, president and CEO of S.C. Trucking Association.

· Global Supply Chain Challenges with Frank Fisher, vice president of Sourcing and Textiles Division at Milliken; Ben Cubbit, senior vice president of Consulting and Strategy Services; Kevin Cassidy, director and representative to Bretton Woods of Multilateral Organizations, International Labour Organization; Greg White, principal and host of Supply Chain Now; and Bill Clifford, president and CEO of World Affairs Council of America. Moderators will include Dorette Coetsee, director of South Carolina U.S. Commercial Trade Service, International Trade Administration with the U.S. Department of Commerce; and Johnny Chiang from USC Upstate.

· Immigration, Workforce, and the Labor Crisis with Christian Herrmann, attorney at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; Chris Richardson, general counsel and COO of BDV Solutions; Knudt Flor, former president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing; Kevin Cassidy, International Labor Organization director; and Jason Zacher, senior vice president of business advocacy at the Greenville Chamber and executive director of the Upstate Chamber Coalition.