The Broad School's Global Initiatives, with the leadership of CIBER Director Tomas Hult and MSU-CIBER as a central component, are integrated on a new website, Global Initiatives. The website is part of the Michigan State University Broad School's Global Initiatives that include increasing the international competitiveness of U.S. organizations and leveraging the unique global brand of the Broad School.

Celebrating 24 years of serving the West Michigan business community interested in international trade.

Regional Forum: Lansing, East Lansing, Meridian, Delta, Delhi & Lansing Townships.

Join Coface North America for our sixth annual country risk meeting. Our panel of economists and business leaders will address the short-term economic outlook for the second half of 2009, with a special focus on how the credit crisis has affected North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Elvin C. Lashbrooke, Jr., Interim Dean of the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University will share insights into the opportunities and challenges faced by colleges of business as they internationalize and the impact of internationalization on business education and the wider campus.

The 8th Biennial International Business Institute for Community College Faculty is a unique professional development program designed specifically for community and technical college faculty. The aim of the Institute is to provide participants with the knowledge, experience and resources they need to internationalize general business courses and/or develop specialized international business courses at the two-year college level.

The theme of the 2009 conference will be: International Marketing in or by Firms from Emerging Market Economies: Theoretical and Empirical Contributions

The 2009 meeting will be held in San Diego, California, USA, 27-30 June 2009. The host school is San Diego State University. More information will be posted as details are finalized. We invite all of our members to join us in 2009 in sunny San Diego! For more details visit: http://aib.msu.edu/events/2009/.

In the spirit of Michigan State University's "world-grant" initiative, MSU's International Business Center in the Eli Broad College of Business is implementing Pro Bono Services for businesses in the Greater Lansing Region (Michigan, USA) which are striving to engage in the global marketplace. The Michigan Export Growth Program was started with a seed grant from the Ford College Community Challenge, which funds projects that meet community leads, create student leaders while building sustainable communities and fostering community partnerships.

George Biltz, is Business Group President, Specialty Plastics & Elastomers for The Dow Chemical Company.