Bob Wright business symposium begins today
Sixteen years ago, William F. Pickard created a minority-owned group of plastic parts suppliers to serve the top three U.S. automakers. Five years later, the alliance had grown to 1,200 employees and $200 million in sales.
Today, Pickard, CEO and chairman of the Global Automotive Alliance in Bloomfield Heights, Mich., will share some of the secrets to his entrepreneurial success as one of the speakers at the first Bob Wright Symposium on Business Empowerment. The sold out event will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Columbus State University's Cunningham Center, 3100 Gentian Blvd.
The symposium is the brainchild of Dr. Robert L. Wright, a successful Columbus philanthropist and businessman. It will be moderated by Byron Pitts, an anchor and reporter for "ABC News," and it will feature a major lineup of business leaders and top executives from across the country. Aflac Chairman and CEO Dan Amos is scheduled to be the lunch keynote speaker.
The event is being held the Thursday before the annual Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum, which is Aug. 24-25 at the Columbus Convention & Trade Center. The head
lined speaker at that event will be former President George W. Bush and his family.
Greg Hudgison, a local public relations and media consultant, has been marketing the symposium on behalf of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. of Columbus, which is one of the sponsors. He said the event is Wright's way of sharing his extensive business contacts with the Columbus community. One of the speakers will be his son, Russell Wright, who is chairman and CEO of SENTEL Corp., a multi-faceted technology company in Alexandria, Va.
"These are people he knows personally who have built businesses in various fields, everything from automotive to franchising to architecture and design," Hudgison said. "And the goal is to bring them together and help them share their knowledge with those who may be considering becoming entrepreneurs or those who are just learning about different aspects of business within their own organizations, whether it's HR and managing people, whether it's leadership."
Tickets for the symposium cost $150 per person. Hudgison said the event was sold out by Wednesday, with many local corporations purchasing tables for employees.
In addition to Pickard and Russell Wright, others scheduled to speak at the event include:
Deryl McKissack, chairwoman of the board of McKissack & McKissack Construction in Washington.
Earl Stafford, CEO of Wentworth Group in Reston, Va.
Emanuel Jones, Georgia state senator and president of Atlanta-based Legacy Automotive Group, which owns the Chevrolet dealership in Columbus.
Gale Hill, owner and operator of AJH Inc., a McDonald's franchise operator based in Columbus, Ohio.
Khary Lewis, chairman and CEO of locally based Infinite Services & Solution Inc.
Sylvester Hester, vice president and chief operating officer of Global Automotive, Duluth, Ga.
Veranda Dickens, chairman of Seaway Bank and Trust Company in Chicago.
Thomas W. Dortch Jr., chairman emeritus of 100 Black Men of America and chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based TWD Inc.
Alva James-Johnson, 706-571-8521. Reach her on Facebook at AlvaJamesJohnsonLedger
This story was originally published August 19, 2015 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Bob Wright business symposium begins today."