CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON TRANSITION INTO 21ST CENTURY

Changes expected as business and community leaders approach the 21st century, health care reforms, river boat tourism and downtown development are among topics to be discussed during the 1994 Business Conference to be held at the Show Me Center Wednesday.

Barry Hana, vice president of Maritz Inc., corporation headquartered in Fenton, that provides performance improvement services to businesses throughout North America and Europe, is keynote speaker for noon luncheon and will speak on employee motivation.

The conference, scheduled from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., is sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University's Donald L. Harrison College of Business and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce University Relations Committee.

"Impact on Business: Managing the Transition Into the 21st Century" is the theme of this year's conference.

"Participants in the conference will have the opportunity to hear how tourism and downtown development will be promoted by river boat gambling in Cape Girardeau," said Gerald McDougall, dean of the Harrison College of Business. "They also will hear local and state health care leaders describe the likely impact of health care reform on businesses and households."

Registration for the conference will be held from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

From 8 to 9:30 a.m., representatives from the Boyd Gaming Corp., headquartered in Las Vegas, with an office in downtown Cape Girardeau, will discuss riverboat tourism and development. Moderating the discussion will be Bert Kellerman of the Harrison College of Business.

Health care reforms will be discussed from 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. by a health care panel. Members will include:

Patrick Bira, Perry County Memorial Hospital administrator; John Fidler, president of Saint Francis Medical Center; Ruth Meyer Hollenback, regional vice president of Blue Cross/Blue Shield; Tom Schulte, district office director for U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond and U.S. Sen. John Danforth; Dian Sprenger, senior vice president of the Missouri Hospital Association; and Jim Wente, administrator of Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Moderating the health care reform discussion will be Karen Hendrickson, assistant administrator/chief nursing officer of Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Hana will address the conference from noon to 1:30 p.m. He is director of the Maritz All-Employee Systems Division, a nationwide network of Maritz experts who assist business executives with employee involvement, quality improvement, customer satisfaction, continuous improvement processes, and safety.

Hana has bachelor's degrees in economics and journalism and a master's degree in business communication from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Cost of the conference is $40 a person including lunch, $25 for only the luncheon, $25 for only the morning conference sessions and without the luncheon, and $10 for students wishing to attend the luncheon. The conference sessions are free for students. Luncheon tickets will be available at the registration table for registrants.