SHELBY DIE CASTING CO EXECUTIVE WILL LEAD SUMMIT

G. Rives Neblett, chairman and chief executive officer of Shelby Die Casting Co. of Shelby, Miss., will address participants at the Education Business/Industry Summit scheduled Sept. 17 at Southeast Missouri State University.

The summit, which is being hosted by Southeast President Kala M. Stroup and 8th District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, will be held at the Show Me Center, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"When Shelby Die Casting was threatened with closing, workers took over the firm to save their jobs," Neblett said. "Then the firm's employees found out they needed to upgrade their literacy, educational, and skill levels to compete in today's high-tech marketplace."

Neblett also is chairman of the Millenium Group, which has dedicated itself to developing an education and training plan to produce an internationally competitive work force.

Neblett recently was profiled on CBS-TV as the 1993 winner of the National Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The honor followed some tough times for Shelby Die Casting, specifically Neblett's decision to close the ailing plant in 1992 and move aluminum die casting production to the company's expanded factory in Fayette, Ala.

"Then I made a last-ditch effort to do what I thought would work," he said. "We would reorganize and if it didn't work, we wouldn't have lost anything."

It worked. Shelby Die Casting now believes that "the investment in people is directly related to the success and future growth of the company," Neblett added.

His remarks will highlight the summit, which is designed to forge ties between education and business/industry leaders and outline a strategy for the future of Southeast Missouri.

"We are very fortunate to bring someone of Mr. Neblett's caliber to speak at the summit," Stroup said. "His expertise in linking education and training with an industrial work force as an answer to economic survival will be extremely valuable to education, business and industry leaders from Southeast Missouri who are seeking innovative ideas for competing in the marketplace."

Registration fee for the summit is $25 and is due by Sept. 14. Checks should be made payable to Southeast Missouri State University and mailed to: "Education- Business/Industry Summit, Southeast Missouri State University, Office of University Relations, One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701."