UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Navigating the shifting landscape of international agriculture will be a theme of the second annual Penn State Agribusiness Executive Program, to be held May 16-21 at the University Park campus.
The weeklong intensive management seminar, sponsored by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and Smeal College of Business Administration, is intended for upper-level executives and managers in forward-thinking agribusiness companies. While continuing its instruction in the latest business trends, the program also will zero in on growth areas within the field, according to conference coordinator Barry Zoumas, Penn State's Alan R. Warehime Professor of Agribusiness.
"The program integrates modern business concepts into the agricultural arena in ways specific to this particular industry," he explains. "We offer instruction in classic business principles while applying the newer, technology-driven techniques in an agribusiness context."
The seminar will cover topics such as developing market opportunities and business strategy, financial analysis, enhancing operations and supply chain effectiveness -- with extra attention, Zoumas says, to the growth area of international agriculture.
"This year, we're delving into global agricultural issues and paying more attention to things like distribution cycles and logistics, and the difficulty of moving food through the food chain," he says. "A company's distribution chain and logistics are big issues for agribusiness systems. There's also some confusion surrounding foreign trade and other regulatory issues."
The program uses the Penn State Executive Program's successful "team" approach, combining feedback and contributions from program participants with more formal instruction from selected faculty from the business school and agricultural sciences in an intensive workshop atmosphere. In addition, the small class size fosters highly interactive learning.
Program faculty will be joined by respected presenters, including Gary Costley, chief executive officer of International Multifoods Corporation; Nina Fedoroff, Penn State's Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and director of the Life Sciences Consortium and Biotechnology Center; Tim Galvin, administrator of Foreign Agricultural Service for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Caren Glotfelty, the Maurice K. Goddard Professor of Forestry and Environmental Resource Conservation in Penn State's School of Forest Resources.
"Our contributing faculty are another strength of the program," Zoumas explains. "They bring knowledge of cutting-edge, successful techniques that you won't find in any textbook."
Tuition for the 1999 program is $3,900, which includes the cost of instruction, program materials, textbooks, private room accommodations at The Nittany Lion Inn, airport limousine service, all meals and use of most Penn State exercise and recreation facilities.
For more information on the program or content, contact Jim Menoher at (800) 311-6364, or write to Penn State Executive Programs, The Smeal College of Business Administration, The Pennsylvania State University, 310 Business Administration Building, University Park, PA 16802-3003; or Debra Sheaffer-Ellis, Conference and Short Course Office, 306 Agricultural Administration Building, University Park, PA 16802-2601. Information on the program also can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.cas.psu.edu (click on "conferences") or http://www.smeal.psu.edu/psep.
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EDITORS: For more information, contact Debra Sheaffer-Ellis at 814-865-8301.
Contacts: Gary Abdullah gxa2@psu.edu 814-863-2708 814-865-1068 fax