Spectrum - Volume 21 Issue 01 August 27, 1998 - Tech to host mining, wood-products conference

A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Tech to host mining, wood-products conference

By Jeanne Brunson

Spectrum Volume 21 Issue 01 - August 27, 1998

The United States sends over $2 billion dollars worth of mining equipment and almost $8 billion dollars worth of wood products abroad each year. Realizing that the mining and wood-products export business is in great demand, the U. S. Department of Commerce has asked Virginia Tech to offer a video-conference on exporting.
"Because Virginia Tech is the largest land-grant university in the state, the Department of Commerce contacted the Public Service Programs Office to set up this video-conference," said Chad Miller, economic-development specialist for international trade. The video-conference, "Wood You Mine Increasing Your Sales," was developed to introduce those companies interested in exporting mining and wood products to methods and services available to them, Miller said.
On September 24, executives from mining and wood-products companies in Appalachia will have the unique opportunity to participate in a two-way videoconference on the benefits of increased exporting. Company presidents, sales managers, and those interested in global trade will learn how to increase their export potential and share of the booming market. Guest speakers for the conference will include a U.S. Commercial Service mining-equipment specialist, a banking vice-president, U.S. Forest Service experts, the vice president of a major corporation, and a freight-forwarding executive.
The live conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce will be held at Whittemore Hall. Additional video-conference sites will be set up at the Capital Complex in Charleston, West Virginia, and at the Coal Energy Research Center on the Evansdale Campus of West Virginia University. The conference will be broadcast through Virginia Tech's server, so classrooms will be able to receive a transmission of the program also.
For more information, call Miller at 1-4043. For registration, contact the conference registrar, Division of Continuing Education at 1-5182 or fax at 1-3306.