Agribusiness Luncheon Speaker will
focus on rural regions in global economy

Feb. 5, 2008 -- Dr. Mark Drabenstott, director of the Rural Policy Research Institute - Center for Regional Competitiveness at the University of Missouri, will be the luncheon speaker for the Agribusiness Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at Arkansas State University.

His luncheon topic is "Can Rural Regions Compete in the Global Economy?"  He will also speak in an afternoon session on "Helping Rural Regions Compete: Innovation & Entrepreneurship."  Alan McVey, director of the Delta Center for Economic Development at ASU, will also participate in this session.

RUPRI is a multi-state, interdisciplinary public policy institute that is jointly sponsored by Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska. The Center helps regions craft world-class development strategies for competing in the global economic race.  The Center’s products help regions understand where they stand in that race, diagnose their new competitive advantage, and sustain innovative models of regional governance.

Drabenstott spoke at the 2002 conference on "Rethinking Rural Policy vs. Agricultural Policy." At that time he was a vice president at The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the director of the bank's Center for the Study of Rural America.

The 14th annual Agribusiness Conference will be held in the Fowler Center and Convocation Center in Jonesboro.  Admission is free, but luncheon reservations are limited to the first 500.  The complete conference program and on-line registration are available at the ASU College of Agriculture web site, http://agri.astate.edu. On-site registration begins at 8 a.m. in the Fowler Center.  Afternoon sessions end at 3:30.

Joining the ASU College of Agriculture as conference sponsors are: The Judd Hill Foundation, AgHeritage Farm Credit Services, Arkansas Farm Bureau, Bunge North America, Busch Agricultural Resources, Capital Agricultural Property Services, Inc., Farm Credit Midsouth, Greenway Equipment, Inc., Helena Chemical Company, Liberty Bank of Arkansas, Riceland Foods, Inc., RiceTec, Inc., and The USA Rice Federation. 

Mark Drabenstott biographical information

for more information:
Dr. Bert Greenwalt, bertg@astate.edu
College of Agriculture, 972-2085

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