Public Relations

NWACC SIFE team to host CEO of Michelina’s Foods

            BENTONVILLE (Wednesday, October 24, 2007) – NorthWest Arkansas Community College Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team will host its eighth Business Leaders Lecture Series 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Shewmaker Center.

            Guest speaker Joel Conner (pictured), chief executive officer of Michelina’s Foods (www.michelinas.com), will discuss ‘Breaking through the Clutter: Marketing Yourself and Your Business.’

            The Business Leaders Lecture Series was started in 2004 when Jack Shewmaker, former Wal-Mart executive and owner of Jac’s Ranch, suggested the event to the NWACC SIFE team and graciously agreed to be the inaugural speaker. 

            Mr. Shewmaker has since been instrumental in securing outstanding speakers.  In the fall of 2006 Mr. Shewmaker agreed to let the NWACC SIFE team name the series the Jack Shewmaker Business Leaders Lecture Series.

            Once again, Shewmaker has delivered a top notch businessperson and speaker. Prior to joining the founding team at Michelina’s, Inc. in 1990, Joel Conner was an executive in the food service and lodging industry and has owned and operated numerous multi-site restaurant groups.

            He was the founder and chairman of Conner Management Corporation, which provided financial management and consulting services to the hospitality industry worldwide.

            He has also served as Vice President of Marketing for ServiceMaster Industries, which had annual sales in excess of $3.5 billion in hotel services to the health care industry. 

            Conner has been involved with dozens of successful start-up and turn-around companies, both public and private throughout his career. 

            Conner gives back to the community by serving on several boards, and non-profit organizations such as the Board of Children’s HeartLink, Change, Inc., the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Students in Free Enterprise, the Board of the Children’s Music and Arts Foundation and The Plight of Urban Children. 

            Conner has an active lifelong commitment to community services.

            Conner also serves or has served on the board of directors or advisory boards for numerous organizations in the fields of banking, real estate, hospitality, professional sports, and manufacturing.

            SIFE hosts the Business Leaders Lecture Series as a tool to educate and inform individuals, businesses, and the community about the principles of free enterprise and to help them achieve financial and personal success. 

            The Business Leaders Lecture Series is free and open to the public.

            For more information, contact Becky Hudson at (479) 619-4184, (479) 936-4659 or by email rhudson1@nwacc.edu.

For questions/comments on this content, please contact jhall@nwacc.edu

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