Former Gov. Collins to deliver inaugural Coldwater Creek Lecture Series presentation

CONTACT: Dr. Rhonda Richards, senior vice president for academic affairs, 304-424-8242.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Former Kentucky Governor Martha Layne Collins will deliver the inaugural lecture of the 2009-2010 Coldwater Creek Lecture Series at noon, August 14, at the Parkersburg Country Club.

The series is made possible by a gift by Coldwater Creek to West Virginia University at Parkersburg. The 2009-2010 series will focus on topics related to entrepreneurship, including presentations on global issues, career options and state legislation related to entrepreneurship.

Gov. Collins' lecture topic will be "Entrepreneurship in a Global Economy." She was instrumental in bringing Toyota to Kentucky in the mid 1980s and continues to maintain a strong interest in global business issues. Currently, she serves as chair of the Kentucky World Trade Center. The lecture presentation is by invitation only.

In conjunction with the lecture series, a lunch-time panel discussion on "Being Entrepreneurial in an Economic Downturn" will be presented August 13 for membership of the Economic Roundtable of the Ohio Valley as well as WVU Parkersburg faculty. A training session for faculty will follow the discussion.

Serving on the panel will be WV State Senator Karen Facemyer who also serves as president of the Polymer Alliance Zone; Doug Kreinik, owner/operator of Kreinik Manufacturing Company, an international enterprise located in Parkersburg, and Chip Pickering of Davis Pickering & Co., Inc., a full-service electrical contracting company in Marietta.

Other fall Coldwater Creek lectures will include "Entrepreneurs As an Economic Engine," Sept. 15, with Kreinik and Gene Watkins, owner/operator of RAJCO LLC, a telecommunications cost reduction service headquartered in Parkersburg; "Entrepreneurship Issues at the State Level," Oct. 8, with Senator Facemyer; and "Entrepreneurship As a Career Option," Nov. 18, with John Altman, managing member at Altman and Associates, PLLC, and faculty member in the college's Business, Economics and Mathematics Division. These lectures will be open to the public and campus community.

The Coldwater Creek Lecture Series represent a commitment to collaboration with WVU Parkersburg in offering real-world business perceptions in classroom and seminar settings, college officials noted. Sy Sarkarat, professor of economics, is serving as coordinator of the series.

A native of Kentucky, Gov. Collins was elected Lieutenant Governor from 1979 to 1983 and sat as president of Kentucky's State Senate and as both vice chair and chair of the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors. She was elected the first and only female governor of the Commonwealth in 1983. During her tenure as governor, she is noted for establishing education reform and economic development. She was instrumental in bringing Toyota Motor Manufacturing and many other international supply companies to Kentucky.

After leaving the governor's office, she served as president of St. Catharine College for six years; as the executive-in-residence at the University of Louisville's School of Business, and as the director of the International Business and Management Center at the University of Kentucky. Currently, she serves as the chairman of the Kentucky World Trade Center's Board of Directors.

cd07/24/09