WASHINGTON, DC — December 15, 2005 — The 2006 Today’s Managers, Tomorrow’s Leaders conference will emphasize critical business issues affecting company growth, including customer loyalty, corporate strategy, financial management, leadership and team development, and supply and logistics management.
     

The intensive, weeklong educational program offers management training for senior executives in the food industry. It will be held February 26 - March 3, 2006, at The Food Industry Leadership Center of Portland State University in Stevenson, WA.
     

“Today’s Managers, Tomorrow’s Leaders will provide executives and senior level managers from food retail, wholesale and manufacturing companies with successful strategies for meeting today’s competitive, financial and leadership challenges,” said Kimberly Roberts, FMI’s senior manager of education. “Conference participants will learn how to grow their business and build their managerial and executive skills from top level executives from prominent companies.”

Sessions at the conference include:

• Developing Corporate Strategy — A key attribute of successful business leaders is the ability to think and implement solutions strategically. This session will use the business case of a rapidly growing food company to critically examine the links between the different areas of a company — including finance, human resources, marketing and operations — with the development of a growth strategy. Participants will present their recommendations to a panel of senior industry executives, who will provide feedback.




• Financial Management — The ability to use financial data for analysis is critical for evaluating strategies and tactical alternatives. This session uses financial statements from companies representing various segments of the food industry. Participants will learn to navigate financial reports and use financial information to make decisions.




• Acquiring and Developing Talents — Making a bad hiring decision or promoting the wrong person could lead to significant long-term productivity problems. This session will improve participants’ abilities to make hiring decisions as well as provide techniques to assist managers on a daily basis as they handle crisis situations and strive to increase employee performance.




• Supply and Logistics Management — To remain competitive, companies must continuously evaluate their supply chain systems. The food industry has the added challenge of perishability in many of its products. This session examines the various components of the supply chain and supply and logistics functions.

For more information on Today’s Managers, Tomorrow’s Leaders, please contact Kimberly Roberts at (202) 220-0720 or kroberts@fmi.org.