Keynotes to empower, prepare

Michael Hoffman of Dallas will act as emcee of the business-conference’s main-stage events. His business and relationship precepts have earned him favor with members of the PDPW community and beyond. The founder and owner of Igniting Performance, he will also facilitate “Future of Success” sessions for teens ages 15 to 18 years old as well as two other employee-development sessions.

Wednesday, March 15 opening keynote

The opening-day session headliners will be Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company, and Jacob Shapiro, partner and director of geopolitical analysis for Cognitive Investments. The keynote speakers will use their collective expertise to identify key geopolitical forces expected to shape the next five years of business. In “What in the world? Global politics and evolving markets,” Basse and Shapiro will answer the questions “How did we get here?” and “Where are we headed?”

Political pundits and economists have seen that domination by a single world power is no longer in effect, despite that the United States held that global role during the past 30 years. The emergence of a multipolar world has set the stage for a turbulent, competitive landscape of increasing and decreasing powers. And when volatility becomes normative, our use of energy sources becomes a priority – as well as our capacity to employ data in smarter more-automated ways.

Basse and Shapiro will emphasize trade protectionism as well as ongoing conflicts between major powers.They will discuss pending worldwide macro developments poised to affect dairy producers and other major agricultural commodities. Their insights will pose critical questions regarding each producer’s present readiness but will also empower producers with tools needed to prepare for circumstances that lie ahead.

This session qualifies for continuingeducation units – 1.25 DACE, 1 PD CCA net-negative year. He will define what success looks like, and detail how producers should plan to improve and grow their businesses.

This session qualifies for continuingeducation units – 1.25 DACE and 1 PD CCA