Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 15, 1995 TAG: 9504170049
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Seminars to help exporting companies use the Internet and handle distribution and financing issues were announced Friday by the World Trade Alliance of the Blue Ridge.
The seminar on use of the Internet, a worldwide network of computer networks and information resources, will be held June 1 at the Sheraton Inn Roanoke Airport.
"The two trainers are Webmasters in their own right," said Joe Robinson, the Virginia Department of Economic Development's export specialist for Southwest Virginia. One is a logistics expert with the U.S. Department of Defense, and the other is a specialist in computer security issues.
The seminar will include live demonstrations, and the trainers will show companies how the Internet can be useful to them, Robinson said.
Other seminars are planned on the distribution and finance issues of exporting. One session will be held June 6 at the Holiday Inn in Lynchburg and another June 13 at the Galax Country Club. Two other sessions have been tentatively planned for Roanoke and Harrisonburg. The dates will be announced later.
The seminars are being underwritten by regional businesses, including Ericsson GE, a cellular phone maker in Lynchburg. The alliance, which gets no state funding, hopes to use part of the proceeds from the seminars to help fund its activities.
John Huddle, chairman of the alliance, said fliers on both the Internet and distribution and financing seminars will be mailed soon to businesses in the region.
For more information on the seminars, their costs and how to register, call Huddle at 983-9369 or Joe Robinson at 857-6028.
The alliance also discussed efforts to locate an inland port or intermodal freight facility in the region. The General Assembly created the alliance to help promote exports in the Blue Ridge region, an area that encompasses counties from Augusta to Wythe and from Highland to Franklin.
Huddle said an amendment to Virginia's budget that would have provided funding for a feasibility study of an inland port was killed from this year's budget.
by CNB