11th ANNUAL
College of Business and Public Administration
BUSINESS CONFERENCE

Friday, March 4, 2005
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

UND BURTNESS THEATRE

Sponsored by the College of Business and Public Administration Student Council
Funded by the College of Business and Public Administration and the UND Alumni Association and Foundation

Speakers, Bios and Photos

  Jeff Gendreau. Mr. Gendreau has nearly fourteen years of public accounting, auditing and financial consulting experience across several industries including public utilities, health care, state and local government, and real estate and construction. His professional work experience includes analysis of debt capacity, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, work with financially distressed companies, and equity and debt financings. Mr. Gendreau’s clients have included Xcel Energy, NorthWestern Corporation, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Centerpoint Energy Minnegasco, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics, the Center for Diagnostic Imaging, and the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Mr. Gendreau has been selected to teach training at the national level for Deloitte and has also been a frequent speaker locally on topics including audit effectiveness and financial statement preparation and analysis. He received his B.B.A. degree with a major in accounting summa cum laude from the University of North Dakota in May 1990 and is a licensed CPA in Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

He and his wife Cathy, daughter Rachel and son John make their home in Andover, Minnesota, a northern suburb in the Minneapolis – St. Paul metropolitan area. Speaking at 9am.

  Karn Jilek, a native of Fargo, ND, graduated from UND in 1989 with a major in marketing. She is currently President and co-owner of JK Lube, Inc. which owns and operates four Jiffy Lube locations in the Fargo-Moorhead area. She has worked with Jiffy Lube since 1991 and purchased her company in 1997. Karn has been involved with the Jiffy Lube Association of Franchisees (JLAF) for the past thirteen years, serving on its Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Information Technology Committee and Marketing Committee. She currently serves as First Vice President of the association. Karn and the Information Technology Committee have guided technology development for the entire Jiffy Lube system from cash registers to basic Point of Sale systems to state of the art software applications using some of the newest software tools available.
She is currently the Secretary/Past Board Chair of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Dakota and is involved with the Chamber of Commerce of Fargo-Moorhead. She has also been involved with a number of other organizations in her community.

Prior to joining Jiffy Lube, Karn worked for Dayton’s (now Marshall Field’s) in various capacities. She also worked as the Marketing Director of Signal Hills Shopping Center, and has experience in the banking industry.

In her current position, Karn handles all of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ aspects of the business. She is the marketing, human resources, technology, accounting and financial management departments of her company. In addition, she works with her business partner to oversee day to day operations of the business.

She now resides in West Fargo with her husband and two dogs. Speaking at 10am.

  Jeff Stamp is Assistant Professor and Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of North Dakota. He provides extensive new product development expertise to technology ventures worldwide. He is skilled at marketplace and venture development and is focused on processes that result in market commercialization.

You will recognize Dr. Stamp by the products he has created while in corporate life. He was the inventor, creator, and brand manager of “Baked Lays,” for PepsiCo’s snack division Frito-Lay, which achieved $230 million in 1st year sales and was named by Ernst and Young as the top brand introduction in the 1990’s for the food sector.

After his corporate life he built his own successful business, as a master brand innovator in both consumer goods and technology arenas, by serving six years as the Chief Trained Brain & Vice President of Technology for Richard Saunders International’s Eureka! Ranch, a top new product and service creativity think tank. In recognition of their original R&D efforts, Jeff and his team were awarded the George Land World-Class Innovator Award from the Innovation Network and Fast Company Magazine. Products created by the Eureka! Ranch appear in markets worldwide.

Dr. Stamp is also highly sought as a speaker, giving on average of 45 keynotes nationwide each year. In 2003, he launched with his colleague Doug Hall, their 3rd book, “Meaningful Marketing.” Speaking at 11:00am.

  Jerry Van Eeckhout was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of ACT teleconferencing, Inc. from 1990 until late 2003, when he retired to become Chairman Emeritus. ACT teleconferencing is a $55 Million company that is involved with global teleconferencing services which offer audio, video, and web conferencing services in ten countries. From the years of 1990-2003, ACT was named a “Boomberg 100” company, named one of the fastest 500 technology growth companies in the US for three years by Deloitte & Touche, was named the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year,” was named to the North Dakota Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame, and also named the “Best Company to Work For” in Denver by the Denver Business Journal.

Gerald started his career in 1962 at the Deloitte & Touche Minneapolis office, where he rose to the level of Audit Manager before leaving in 1980. He than worked as the Director of Planning and Finance for the international division at Pillsbury Co, and than as Vice President and CFO at Medtronic, Inc. In 1982, Gerald served as President and CEO of ConferTech International, Inc where he was responsible for creating the use of “earnings calls” for American publicly traded companies in the early 1980’s. This company was eventually sold into two components for over $100 Million, and allowed Gerald to start-up ACT in 1990.

Gerald received his education from both the University of North Dakota and Stanford Business School, and has taught International Management and Accounting/Finance at the University of Minnesota, the University of Denver, and the University of Shanghai. He has also served on many non-profit organizations such as the University of North Dakota Foundation, the American Electronics Association, and the Teleconferencing Industry Trade Association.