Vermont CEOs to discuss new issues facing public companies in post-Enron world

A group of four Vermont chief executives―Ed Colodny of Fletcher Allen Healthcare, Liz Robert of Vermont Teddy Bear, Joe Boutin of Merchants Bank and John Casella of Casella Waste Systems―will participate in a panel discussion titled “How do Responsible Public Companies Handle the Issues of Enron+1?” on April 10 at Middlebury College. The town-meeting-style open event, which is the 2003 D.K. Smith Spring Forum, will take place from 4:30-6 p.m. in Room 216 of Bicentennial Hall on Bicentennial Way off College Street. Following the panel, there will be a reception in the Great Hall of Bicentennial Hall.
Scott Pardee, Middlebury College Alan R. Holmes Professor of Monetary Economics, will serve as moderator. He will pose questions to the panel and then open up the question and answer session to the audience. Pardee has worked for a variety of firms and corporations, including Yamaichi International (America), where he was chairman from 1989-1995. At the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Pardee was the senior vice president and manager for foreign operations of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) from 1962-1979. He is also a member of several corporate boards of directors and the former member of a number of corporate auditing committees.
The April 10 forum will explore several issues, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, which regulates the accounting industry and requires increased business and financial disclosures. President Bush signed the act into law on July 30 in the wake of corporate accounting scandals, most notably Enron and WorldCom. According to National Real Estate Investor magazine, “CEOs of publicly traded companies are pulling their hair out these days trying to muddle through the laundry list of mandates included in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.” The panel will also address additional topics related to corporate accountability in the areas of accounting, auditing, boards of directors, auditing committees, and other matters.
Funds from the D.K. Smith Chair in Applied Economics support an annual lecture or forum. The chair was established in honor of Professor Emeritus of Economics David K. Smith, a member of the Middlebury College economics department from 1950-1988, and maintains a focus on applied
economics. An undergraduate economics major at Middlebury College, Smith received a master’s degree and a doctorate from Harvard prior to joining the department of economics at Middlebury, where he served as department chair for 15 years. Smith’s students established the chair in honor of his work as a teacher and mentor.
The event is co-sponsored by two Middlebury College student organizations―the DigitalBridges2.0 Club and the Student Investment Committee.
Both the panel discussion and the reception are free and open to the public, but reservations are required. R.S.V.P. to Elizabeth Robinson of Middlebury College at [email protected] and 802-443-5435.