 Ronald A. Johnson, dean of the College of Business at Western Carolina University, led a team of business faculty members in a presentation about the current national economic crisis. Johnson, who came to WCU after holding positions with the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund, led sessions designed to help attendees separate fact from fiction, recognize the difference between rumor and truth, and avoid making uninformed decisions. Other schedule speakers include Steve Henson, director of the WCU MBA program; Louis Buck, WCU’s Elingburg Distinguished Professor of Business Innovation; and Tilt Thompkins, professor of finance who has experience in the areas of risk pricing, risk management and asset valuation.
Click here to view this timely presentation.
Business News from the Asheville Citizen-Times
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Building east Buncombe greenway will take a while
29 Jul 2010 | 2:53 pm
BLACK MOUNTAIN -- The prospect of a greenway path stretching from East Asheville to Ridgecrest got an enthusiastic reception from people attending a meeting on the plan.
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Experts: Asheville-area economy rebounding
29 Jul 2010 | 2:35 pm
ASHEVILLE -- The area economy is slowly recovering, with housing sales up, unemployment down and other key indicators showing improvement, two experts said.
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Givens Estates honors long-time employees
29 Jul 2010 | 7:33 am
ASHEVILLE -- The Givens Estates Inc., a nationally accredited continuing care retirement community and the largest CCRC in North Carolina, recognized milestone years of service on July 16 during its annual board of directors meeting.
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A-B Tech offers 11-week machining course - Fundamentals of Automated Machining
28 Jul 2010 | 8:03 am
ASHEVILLE -- Larry Boyd, chair of the machining program at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, received a phone call most people would love to get during today's economic times. A staffing agency needed trained machinists to immediately fill 15 positions.
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Asheville experts to outline local, global economies
28 Jul 2010 | 6:16 am
ASHEVILLE -- In recent years, the dismal science of economics has lived up to the economy -- plenty of doom and gloom to go around.
WNC Pulse
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Western North Carolina Pulse |
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As we examine the field of economic development in the westernmost counties of North Carolina, we see three chronic and common problems in the areas of information, interaction and initiative.Information is literally everywhere. Thanks to the Internet, it often seems as if we are drowning in a sea of data – and while data is plentiful, meaning is not. Context is often lacking and without comparison, content alone is useless. What is needed is a “one-stop shop” approach to economic data; a single site where one could find selected and screened content that could then be sorted and compared to other counties or regions to gain context and displayed graphically for overall ease-of-use. This concept we refer to as a dashboard where, just like in your car, a glance at a few key indicators tells you everything you need to know – quickly and efficiently.
Interaction like information before it, is another situation in which we are perhaps getting too much of a good thing. By interaction, we mean all the federal, state and local institutions that exist to assist counties in the process of economic development. We have reached a point where it is impossible to know all the players in the game; where there is no one place to go for a comprehensive overview of all the services currently available. Again, what is needed is a one-stop shop where economic developers can find a complete listing of all the agencies and organizations that may be of use to them in their work. We would take this one step further and create a network that would not just impart information, but allow for interaction amongst all these participants. Finally, we come to initiative and by this we mean that with only a handful of media outlets covering our vast region, every day successful initiatives go unheard and unsung by all except the few who were directly involved. There currently exists no reliable medium for communicating successful and important initiatives in the field of economic development. If such communication does occur, it occurs verbally and infrequently. What is required is a website, a sort of “Regional CNN” that would contain professionally-crafted profiles, in both audio and video formats that tell these success stories; that share these best practices and that encourage improved communication and collaboration in these westernmost counties.This then is the mission of the WNC Pulse: to provide access to a comprehensive economic indicator dashboard at both the regional and county level; to create a network where all the economic development practitioners can interact with one another and then to use our rich media skills to post profiles of individual successes and share best practices. Through better information, improved interaction and shared initiatives – we believe better decisions will be made, resulting in a better life for all. |
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