(1888PressRelease)
September 17, 2008 - Raleigh, N. C. The RTP Tech Event @ Goodnight’s announced today that John Kabbes, Director of Global Materials at the Nortel RTP facility will lead the panel discussion at the September 25, 2008, networking event.
Kabbes will offer his insights on the prior presentations made by two local manufacturers. The presentations that night feature George King, the President of Triangle MicroSystems, a manufacturer in instruments and controls (SIC 38), and Bob Luddy, the CEO of Captive-Aire, a global leader in innovation of restaurant exhaust systems (SIC 36).
“I have worked in the profession of global supply chain management for 28 years,” said Kabbes, “and I understand the importance of linking global innovation to regional innovation.” “Our research lab here in the RTP is based on the concept of achieving interoperability with all of our third party vendors in our supply chain, especially the manufacturing firms located here in central North Carolina,” he added.
“We need to implement new innovation economic development tools here in the RTP,” said Tom Vass, a regional economist and business financial advisor to high tech companies, who organizes the event. The financial turmoil in the rest of the U. S. economy is a clear warning that we must change the way we do state economic development.”
Vass said that the RTP economy needs to implement three new tools right now:
1. New regional capital market mechanisms that direct growth capital to small innovative manufacturers.
2. New economic modeling that suggests the greatest potential for making technology investments in the regional industrial value chains.
3. New regional e-commerce trading platforms that facilitate greater b-to-b relationships among manufacturers, and especially between small local manufacturers and global corporations.
“John Kabbes is an international expert in global supply chains,” said Vass. “His advice and insights will help us see the way to implement a regional b-to-b supply chain in the RTP economy that will promote technological innovation,” Vass explained.
The RTP Tech Event features two types of innovation networking collaboration at each event. Part of the program focuses on presentations from local manufacturing firms who describe their initiatives and issues that the local economy needs to address. The other part of the collaboration occurs when a representative from a global corporation provides advice and feedback on the local presentations.
The mission of the RTP Tech Event is to stimulate brainstorming on new product ideas and ways for local companies to do more business with each other. Presentations are followed by an open forum for discussion by participants and attendees.
At the end of all presentations, the floor is open “Your Five Minutes of Fame at Goodnight’s, where a budding entrepreneur or inventor can stand up and give a five-minute elevator pitch on their venture or new product idea.
Registration for the monthly event is available at MeetUp.com. Annual membership in the RTP Tech Event is $50, and there is a $10 door fee that includes the purchase of the first drink and a discount on the comedy show that night at Goodnight’s.
About John Kabbes: Mr. Kabbes is the Director of Global Materials, at Nortel, in RTP, NC. He is an expert on global supply chain management and has over 28 years of successful process design and implementation experience. (Masco Corporation: Division President, VP Supply Chain at Delta Faucet, Big 8 Management Consultant and now with Brooks International.) His experience includes over 100 major projects in a multitude of industries, manufacturing and business environments and cultural situations.
About Nortel, RTP, N.C. The Nortel operations at RTP include the management of a research lab that serves as one of the Company’s global hubs for interoperability with wireline partners and customers, as well as research to enhance speed to market for applications such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). The interoperability lab allows partners and customers better access for short-term and long-term interoperability projects with Nortel Networks by facilitating increased interoperability testing between Nortel and key, third-party vendors.
Nortel is an industry leader and innovator focused on transforming how the world communicates and exchanges information. The Company is supplying its service provider and enterprise customers with communications technology and infrastructure to enable value-added IP data, voice and multimedia services spanning Wireless Networks, Wireline Networks, Enterprise Networks, and Optical Networks. As a global company, Nortel Networks does business in more than 150 countries. More information about Nortel Networks can be found on the Web at www.nortelnetworks.com.
About the RTP Tech Event @ Goodnights. Our event's mission is to create more business for local firms and to increase the rate of new product development in the RTP regional economy. We call this "new business idea brainstorming." Each month, executives from local manufacturing firms, product development engineers and people with new business ideas for new products get together to brainstorm ideas for what types of new products may be successful in the RTP market. http://newtech.meetup.com/115/ Contact Tom Vass 919 9754856.
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