Business - Business News

POSTED: Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009

WWU hosts business management speaker series

Western Washington University's College of Business and Economics will host alumni Doug MacLean, Mark Nelson and David Littlefield during its Center for Excellence in Management Education Speaker Series this quarter.

These events are free and open to the public.

MacLean, the president and CEO of Talking Rain Beverage Company and Raging River Distributing Company, will speak about executive strategy at 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, in Fraser 4 on the WWU campus.

MacLean oversees the planning, accounting, marketing, manufacturing, sales and distribution activities for Talking Rain, with annual sales of about $40 million.

Nelson, the executive vice president and senior credit officer of Columbia Bank, will speak about ethics and social responsibility at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 6, in Fraser 4.

Nelson has 35 years of experience in the field and is currently in charge of Columbia Bank's commercial and consumer lending and branch-banking functions.

Littlefield, the senior vice president and director of Planning and Analysis at Weyerhaeuser Realty Investors (WRI), will speak about Executive Strategy at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27, in Fraser 4.

Littlefield has been with the company since 1988, holding positions of vice president, assistant vice president, senior project analyst and project analyst prior to becoming a senior vice president.

The Center for Excellence in Management Education Speaker Series brings senior business leaders to campus to interact with students and share their perspectives on strategic management, ethics, and leadership. In addition to giving a formal lecture and speaking to classes while visiting Western's campus, these executives interact with select undergraduates and graduate students in an informal setting to discuss issues of mutual interest in business and economics.

For more information about these events and others, contact Joseph Garcia at 650-3916, or joseph.garcia@wwu.edu.