Meeting |
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Report |
Meeting |
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Report |
February 4, 2003 |
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Russia, The Wild West – Land of Opportunity and Growth Potential
In 1996 Charles “Charlie” Moyer became Dean and Chair of Finance of Wake Forest University’s Babcock School of Management, known to many as the Wake Forest MBA School. Today, the Babcock School is one of only 33 schools in the world that are top-ranked in each of the major MBA B-School rankings – US News, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Forbes. It is also one of only four schools in the United States that have both the prestigious USAACSB and the international EQUIS accreditations. One important feature of all five Wake MBA programs is that the students learn a global perspective through international programs and partner schools in China, Japan, India, Germany, France, UK, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Russia. Dean Moyer reflected on some of the things that he has learned from these international partnerships by comparing Russia in 1994 and six years later and commented on the promise and prospects of the Russian economy. In 1994, when Moyer arrived for his first trip to Russia, the ruble exchange was 1800/$. When he left, it was 2200/$. Customer service was unknown with customers considered “bothers”. Moscow had few fine restaurants and McDonald’s was “high class”. Official taxes exceeded 100% of profits for most companies; hence there was a cash and barter economy. There was virtually no private ownership of land, only 99-year leases. Business law was undeveloped and the courts were unreliable. City services, including hot water, roads and beltways, were horrible. In 1998 the banking system collapsed and all deposits were lost creating a tremendous mistrust of Banks. On return to Moscow in December 2000 and more recently in 2002, Professor Moyer found that the environmental nightmare persisted, bribes remained common business practices, and still no faith in the banking system. Even today, most Russian people, including professionals, keep their savings at home. However, tax rates lowered to 30+%, there were much improved city services, many fine restaurants, great cultural events, growing venture capital and banking industries, and increasing business sophistication. In short, “Russia is the new Wild West, a land of opportunity and growth potential”. Moyer believes that Russia will continue to progress, built initially on the strength of its oil reserves, and become a major business opportunity to many US firms. Head Table: David Anderson, Benton Bragg, Matt Joyner, John Galles, Rich Campbell, Wes Clark, Carol Jordan. Invocation: Matt Joyner; Guests & Visitors: Randall Groves; Health & Happiness: Herb Harriss; Song: Henry Lafferty. * * * Rotary Roster: DO NOT use your Roster for…
* * * Hold The Date: Joint Rotary Luncheon, February 25th, 12:00, Adams Mark Hotel. District Conference, April 4th through 6th, Renaissance Hotel, Asheville, NC. * * * |
New Member
Bill is a professional jeweler and a diamond merchant with over 35 years of industry experience as an owner, buyer and diamond consultant. Born in New Orleans, LA and later living in Donaldsonville, LA on the Mississippi near Baton Rouge, he owned and operated two fine jewelry and gift stores for twenty years and continued his professional education with courses from the Gemological Institute of America. Additionally, he traveled to Idar Oberstein, Germany to take advanced studies in colored gemstones. As a Rotarian with 20 years of membership, he had 100% attendance for 14 of those years and 120% for 3 years. Active in many civic, professional, and community organizations, primarily in leadership roles, he was chairman of the Louisiana State Tourist Commission for three years and served on the board of directors of the Louisiana World’s Fair. Also active in Louisiana Republican politics, he worked to elect Louisiana’s first Republican Reform Governor since the reconstruction, and attended 2 National Conventions, once as a delegate for George Bush, Sr. Bill moved to Charlotte after being recruited by Robert Love, President of Love’s Jewelry, several years after meeting him on a diamond-buying trip to Antwerp. He located, designed, and built seven stores for Love’s Jewelry in Charlotte and the surrounding area and remained with that organization until Robert retired. Bill has a B.S. in Economics and an M.B.A. from Northeast Louisiana State University. He later became an instructor of business at Southeast Louisiana where he taught marketing and management several years. His hobbies are cooking, travel, and boating, having been a sailor for years and making many sailing trips to the Bahamas from both Florida and Georgia – this year he made a change from sail to becoming a “stinkpot owner.” The “S-Cargo,” a 44ft diesel powered coastal cruiser, is moored at the Charleston City Marina. He and his wife Elaine have two children, John and Erin. Welcome to Charlotte Rotary Bill. * * * Did You Hear… è Polio Eradication Update Club Pledge:
$54,000 èWelcome to new member, Pete Larson. èTo volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, contact Ken Samuelson or Paul Solitario. è Speedy recovery to Phil Van Hoy. è Please notify Sandy at chltrot@bellsouth if you would like to be added to the Reporter email distribution list. * * * |
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