Growth Energy hosted its first-ever Executive Leadership Conference earlier this month in Phoenix, Arizona. The two-day conference was designed to bring Growth Energy members together in order to assess the state of the organization as well as the state of the ethanol industry. The conference featured four roundtables with moderators and guest speakers that included Growth Energy board members, ethanol producers, sports figures and former members of Congress.
The first discussion centered around national security implications of continuing America’s dependence on foreign oil. The panel featured Gen. Wesley Clark, Co-Chairman of Growth Energy, and Dr. Gal Luft, Executive Director for the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.
“Today, oil is the most strategic commodity in the world and it controls the world’s economy,” said Dr. Luft. “If we want to preserve the future of this country we need to give consumers a choice at the filling station. Giving consumers a choice means that oil can no longer control prices and we will begin to grow a competitive market for ethanol.”
Navigating Congress and the political landscape during an election year was the focus of a bipartisan roundtable discussion held on day two of the conference. Karen Hughes, a former advisor to President George W. Bush, and Josh Gottheimer, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton, were featured on the panel.
“The people in this room have the ability to create American jobs that cannot be outsourced and that’s a powerful message,” Hughes said.
The global market for ethanol was the subject of the third roundtable discussion on the final day of Growth Energy’s Executive Leadership Conference.
The roundtable was moderated by Dave Vander Griend, President and CEO of ICM, Inc., and featured remarks by, Dr. Peder Holk Nielsen, Executive Vice President of Novozymes, Ken Field, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GreenField Ethanol, and Ian O’Gara, Manager of Accenture Biofuels Group.
Topics for discussion included how ethanol and biofuels can create positive change throughout the world, and how pressures between global trade, a growing global population and agricultural resources will be balanced in Washington, DC, and in other national capitals.
The final roundtable of the conference presented members of Growth Energy with a detailed presentation about the future market outlook for grain, ethanol and distillers from experts during the fourth and final roundtable discussion at the Growth Energy Executive Leadership Conference.
Each discussion was engaging and informative and the ideas and suggestions generated during these roundtables and presentations will help define Growth Energy’s policy objectives and strategies over the next year.
At the conclusion of all four discussions, CEO Tom Buis said, “We are very grateful to all of the moderators and speakers for leading intelligent and thought provoking roundtable discussions, but even more, we are thankful to have members that are deeply committed to the fight for renewable, sustainable ethanol.”
