eggs with experts – new to the summit in 2010!

Get expert advice from these management gurus during the Eggs with Experts Networking Breakfast on Tuesday, May 18. Topics include the following:

	ACCESS TO CAPITAL Kevin Watters is CEO of Business Banking for Chase which is increasing its small business lending to a total of $10 billion in 2010. Chase also hired hundreds more business bankers and realigned its credit policy to increase approval rates. As a result, loan volume has risen sharply from early 2009.Waters is a member of JPMorgan Chase’s Executive Committee and previously led the Corporate Internet Group. Prior to merging with JPMorgan Chase, Watters served in various roles at Bank One, including Head of the Corporate Internet Group, President of the Consumer Internet Group, Chief Strategy Officer of the Consumer Internet Group, and Chief Marketing Officer of Wingspan, Bank One’s Internet-only bank.Watters earned a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia.
	DIRECT E-MAIL MARKETING As Constant Contact’s vice president of Global Market Development, Eric Groves oversees the recruitment, education and training of small businesses worldwide. Groves is the developer of Constant Contact’s Power of Relationships Program, an educational outreach program for small businesses, associations, and nonprofits offered globally via live seminars and online webinars.Groves has more than 20 years of experience building sales, business development, online, and marketing strategies for leading companies. His expertise stems from serving as executive director of Worldwide Sales and Business Development at Alta Vista and through leadership positions held at iAtlas Corp. InfoUSA® Inc., MFS communications, SBC Communications, and Citicorp.Groves is the author of The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marking.
	BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND CLIENT RETENTION Neil Hare is President of iSupport Digital, LLC, a leader in developing cutting edge, interactive websites and providing online marketing for trade associations and their small business members. Before starting his company in 2005, Hare served as Vice President of Corporate Communications at the United States Chamber of Commerce. In that role, Hare used his dot.com background to help transform the Chamber’s digital communications strategy to an interactive web 2.0 platform. iSupport Digital continues to provide web services to the Chamber. Hare is a frequent speaker and commentator on the intersection of Washington politics, the internet and small business, with past appearances at the Small Business Administration, the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Sam’s Club Small Business Expo, FoxNews, and CNBC. He also proudly sits on the U.S. Chamber’s Small Business Council.
	GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT Gloria Berthold Larkin is President of TargetGov, a national company providing government procurement, business development, and marketing services. She authored The Veterans Business Guide: How to Build a Successful Government Contracting Business and created a series of Government Business Development Audio CDs and Toolkits focusing on successful business development processes for federal contractors. Larkin has received numerous accolades including: Enterprising Women magazine’s 2010 Enterprising Women of the Year honoree, Women Impacting Public Policy National Member of the Year 2007, the Bravo Business Achievement Award 2007, a Maryland’s Top 100 Minority Business Enterprises in 2008 and 2006, and she was recognized by Maryland’s Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs as one of the top Women Entrepreneurs. She currently serves as the national Procurement Committee CoChair for Women Impacting Public Policy.
	GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT – VETERANS Wayne Gatewood, Jr. is an expert in federal government small business contracting; especially issues related to the service disabled veteran-owned small business program and other small business categories listed within FAR, Part 19. In 1987, after serving 21 years in the U.S. Marines, including a 13 month tour of duty in Vietnam, Gatewood served as a project and program manager with a local small business. In 1989, with just $600, Gatewood started Quality Support in his basement. Today, Quality Support is a 20-year old federal government small business with more than 100 employees that provides an array of administrative, conference and meeting support, logistical, help-desk, managerial and related support services to customers located around the world. Gatewood has been a member of the U.S. Chamber since 2002, and sits on the Chamber’s Small Business Council, National Security Task Force, and the Chamber Procurement Council.
	HUMAN RESOURCES Michelle Bolles is vice president, Human Resources, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This department services over 500 employees. In this position, Bolles leads and manages a team of human resource professionals in the areas of recruitment and retention, employee benefits and wellness, training and development, compensation and performance management, and employee relations. As well, she participates with cross-divisional teams to offer ideas and execute strategies on various business-related issues. During her 19-year tenure with the Chamber, Bolles has held other roles in Human Resources as well as throughout the Chamber to include: director, Small Business Marketing and Operations and director of operations, Federation Relations. She also served as a resource for the Business Civic Leadership Center, an affiliate of the Chamber, working to streamline their internal operations.
	MARKETING Marketing Edge was founded by Beth Goldstein, author of The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Toolkit (McGraw-Hill). Beth is a nationally recognized speaker, business coach and educator at Boston University School of Management. She is also the Lead Instructor for the InnerCity Entrepreneurs’ 15-state, nationwide program designed to help urban entrepreneurs strengthen and grow their existing businesses. Beth serves as the Senior Associate for Distance Learning for the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization at Boston University (BU), runs the school’s $50K Business Plan Competition, teaches entrepreneurial sales & marketing course for graduate students and is Faculty Director for its nationally ranked Online Certificate in Entrepreneurship.
	NETWORKING As a sales expert, Alice Heiman has been helping companies increase sales since establishing Alice Heiman, LLC in 1997. As the creator and developer of the BizTalk Blender®, networking is one of Alice’s great passions and talents, and it’s one of the easiest and most effective ways she’s found for entrepreneurs, consultants and small businesses to increase sales. Alice mentors sales management to transform them into proactive coaches while helping senior management establish a sales culture that will continue to grow their bottom line. She was named 2004 Saleswoman of the Year by Professional Saleswomen of Nevada, 2009 Marketer of the Year by the Reno-Tahoe AMA and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine.
	PENSION PLANNING Sam Gilbert is President of the Alsam Company and of United Plan Administrators, Inc., a pension consulting firm that designs, installs, and performs annual administrative functions for small business retirement plans. In 1986, Mr. Gilbert was an elected delegate to the 2nd National White House Conference on Small Business. He was reelected in 1995 to the 3rd National White House Conference on Small Business and served as Task Force Chairman for three years on the implementation of pension investment in small businesses. Appointed in 1986 to the United States Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council, chairing its task force on small business access to capital via pension funds (1988-94). Mr. Gilbert has continued his service and additionally became a member of the Chamber’s Employee Benefits Committee in 1994.
	RISK MANAGEMENT As second Vice President of Casualty Services for Travelers Risk Control Nirmal A. Traeger is the practice leader for developing risk assessment and safety consulting services for Travelers workers compensation and general liability insurance. This includes the industrial hygiene and ergonomic consulting services units along with the products safety units. Traeger has more than 20 years of risk control experience and has been recognized by her company leaders and peers for her valuable contributions. Her successful career as an industrial hygiene specialist, director of products liability safety specialists, and as a member of the Emerging Issues and Climate Change Groups equips her with the tools and insight needed for being a trusted advisor to her customers. As a leader with a high degree of professionalism and business acumen, Traeger has risk management experience in manufacturing, biotech, petrochemical, office, and health care settings. She works in tandem with company leaders and cross-functional teams to deliver valuable solutions to a customer’s risk management issues.
	SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE RESOURCES Peter Morse is Vice President, Product Management and Analytics at Manta. Since joining Manta in 2003, Morse has led the product management, strategy, and roadmap that has driven the rapid growth of Manta.com to become top 10 business website. Leveraging his advanced statistical background, he has successfully fostered a “test and learn” environment critical to continuous growth and rapid product development. Morse’s team also has opened up groundbreaking advertising channels for Manta to monetize its vast content assets.Throughout his career, Morse has used quantitative methods to measure and improve online user experience, revenue, and business processes in both commercial and academic settings. His experience spans a wide range of industries and companies, including work with General Electric, General Motors, and Bank One (now Chase). Prior to joining Manta, he was responsible for web analytics and multivariate testing at Amazon.com.
	SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Katie Loovis is Director of Business & Society Relations for the U.S. Chamber’s Business Civic Leadership Center. In this role, Loovis advances all aspects of corporate citizenship, including reputation management, stakeholder relations, and overall corporate competitiveness. She writes and speaks on topics ranging from philanthropy to innovation and entrepreneurship.Previously, Loovis worked in the Bush administration in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the White House USA Freedom Corps, the U. S. Department of the Interior as director of the Office of External Affairs, and executive director of Take Pride in America. She is a lifelong volunteer, and currently serves through the Junior League of Washington.
	STRATEGIC PLANNING As President and CEO of Change Strategists, Inc., Billie Blair specializes in organizational behavior, more specifically strategy building and strategic systems for corporations and other organizations; organizational change management and development of organizational practices; leadership assessment and developmental effectiveness; executive coaching and technical support for C-level executives and other managers; succession and selection processes for executives; evaluation and analysis in support of organizational design structures; and employee/management support and development systems. Dr. Blair’s lucrative career has included leadership and management positions in business, health care and academic settings. She also regularly serves as an organizational consultant.On behalf of her company, Dr. Blair is a member of several local Chambers of Commerce and serves on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Council.
	SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT As director of Sales, Jim Powell is responsible for the development, implementation and execution of FedEx Services sales strategy for the small and medium business customer segments in the southeastern United States. With 21 years of experience in the shipping industry, he leads a team of more than 90 sales professionals and managers. Powell moved into his current position in Dallas, Texas, in September 2006 after six years as a district sales manager in Denver, Colorado, with FedEx Services. He joined FedEx in 2000 with the acquisition of RPS (now FedEx Ground). Powell has received many awards. In 2006, he received the company’s highest honor – the FedEx Five Star Award. Most recently, he led a team targeting small-business contact strategy and future global lead generation focused on customer acquisition and penetration.
	TAX PLANNING Thala Taperman Rolnick’s CPA practice concentrates on tax planning and compliance for individuals, trusts, partnerships, and closely held business. She served as a member of the IRS Electronic Tax Administration for 3 years and testified at the House of Representative’s Committee on Small Business regarding IRS audit issues. She also serves as a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Tax Sub Council and as a regional Tax Advisory Chair for the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. In January 2008 and February 2010, she headed a roundtable discussion at the Small Business Administration to promote tax changes to assist small businesses in which some of the proposed provisions have been included in tax legislation. Thala has taught continuing education to CPAs throughout the country.
	TECHNOLOGY Ricardo Harvin is Senior Manager, Web Development at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, overseeing the Chamber’s core Web infrastructure and application development. His career at the Chamber began with ChamberBiz, the Chamber’s first venture into offering a small business-specific portal. For the past 10 years he has supported the Chamber’s overall online presence and small business member experience. Since 2004, Harvin has been the primary author of a column on technology for the Chamber’s monthly member magazine, Free Enterprise. He conducts research and analysis to identify the products and services that are best suited for small businesses. After leaving the Navy in 1980, Harvin worked for several small and midsize businesses and attended Florida State University prior to joining the Chamber.