PULLMAN Egils Milbergs, Governor Christine Gregoire’s liaison with the Obama transition team, John Gardner, WSU vice president for economic development and extension, and John Nofsinger, WSU business professor and author, will bring their individual perspectives and expertise on economic issues together in a presentation entitled, “Recovery or Reinvention? Strategies for the White House, the statehouse, and your house” at noon in Bellevue on March 3 at The Hyatt Regency Bellevue Grand Ballroom and Foyer.
Luncheon registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. on the day of the presentation and is currently also available online at www.theinnovators.wsu.edu or by calling 877-978-3868. Admission is $35.
Bringing a detailed knowledge of state and federal stimulus plans to the discussion will be Milbergs, who serves as director of the Washington State Economic Development Commission. A visionary and strategist in global innovation, advanced marketing, competitiveness, and public-private partnerships, he is the founder and president of the Center for Accelerating Innovation, a leading innovation research and strategy organization based in the Washington, D.C., area. The center conducts research on the changing nature of the innovation process and consults with start-ups, corporations, associations, and governments on growth acceleration strategies.
In addition to serving as a liaison to the president’s transition team, Milbergs has helped set national economic policy, playing a principal role in the National Innovation Initiative and the Innovation Vital Signs project of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
John Gardner, WSU vice president for Economic Development and Extension since 2007, served in a similar capacity for two years at the University of Missouri, where he also was associate dean/director of research and outreach for the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources. Gardner earned his Ph.D. in agronomy and plant physiology at the University of Nebraska. His USAID-funded graduate work focused on increasing sorghum and millet production in Africa and India with INTSORMIL, a remarkably successful program that continues today. Gardner then joined North Dakota State University where he spent much of his 20 years there as director of the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center. His work on the domestication of new crops led to business interests throughout the 1990s and he became a founder and chief executive of AgGrow Oils, a 540-member limited liability company that integrated the production, processing, and marketing of both novel and designer oil seeds.
WSU Professor and Nihoul Faculty Fellow in Finance John Nofsinger, is an acknowledged expert in investor psychology, investments, international finance, and entrepreneurial finance. In addition to his popular blog, “Mind on My Money” at Psychology Today, Nofsinger has authored several trade books and textbooks on the psychology of investing, including “Infectious Greed: Restoring Confidence in America’s Companies” (2003); “Investment Blunders Of the Rich and Famous… and What You Can Learn from Them” (2002); and “Investment Madness: How Psychology Affects Your Investing… And What to Do About It!” (2001). Nofsinger joined the WSU Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate in the College of Business in 2001. He received the Dean’s Faculty Excellence Award in 2006 and 2007 and held the Lang Faculty Fellowship from 2005 to 2007.
News media wishing to schedule interviews in the Puget Sound area with panel members can do so through the contacts listed above.
