September 23, 2005, Fort Wayne, Indiana: The university hosted a Business Leaders Symposium on Tuesday, September 22. At the Symposium, local entrepreneurs and area business leaders Keith Busse, President and CEO of Steel Dynamics; Dan Copeland, founder of Business People magazine; Dave Harris, one of the founders of American Specialty; Karl LaPan, President and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center; Jon Lassus, CEO of Lassus Brothers Oil Company; Marsha Ryan, COO of Indiana Michigan Power; Rob Young, President of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance; Larry Weigand, President of Weigand Construction; and Don Wolf, President Emeritus of Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. (now Do It Best Corporation), shared some of the strategies they employed to take their businesses to the next level.

Dr. Pam Kephart, Dean of the Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership, thanked the participants on the panel, "All of our participants have enjoyed tremendous success in business, and were happy to share some of the "secrets" of their success. The university, the School of Business, and especially our students were grateful for the chance to spend time with these business leaders."

The Business Leaders Symposium is an annual event hosted by the Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership.  For information about next year's symposium, please contact Sylvia Clark at 260-434-3280.

The University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana, founded in 1890, is a comprehensive university in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, offering undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 2,000 students form a broad geographical region.

Click here to view photos of the Business Leaders Symposium.