8-27-03
PENN STATE ERIE WILL HOST
RUSSIAN PLASTICS INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host representatives of the Russian plastics industry on Monday, September 22, for a tour of the college, a seminar in business ethics in the Sam and Irene Black School of Business, and training in the college's state-of-the-art Fasenmyer Plastics Laboratory. Their visit is part of a productivity enhancement program sponsored by the Corry Kiwanis Club through the Center for Citizen Initiatives (CCI), a nonprofit organization with a twenty-year history of linking American and former Soviet citizens for cooperation on issues of mutual concern.
"We are delighted to have these international visitors at Penn State Erie," said Dr. Thomas Wortman, special projects assistant to the CEO and Dean. "They are interns in the CCI's productivity enhancement program, and they will take what they learn about production, infrastructure, and service, back to their companies and to the Russian marketplace. We are giving them tools to change their society." The group will be in Corry from September 18 through October 12, making visits to other Erie county sites including CAMTech on September 26.
The Russian visitors will travel through Pennsylvania with a Russian facilitator and professional interpreter who will assist in the transfer of knowledge and ideas between the delegates and their American hosts. Members of the Corry Kiwanis Club and other community volunteers will open their homes to the Russian delegates for their three-week stay in the United States.
Since its founding in 1983, CCI has successfully organized industry-specific training for more than 3,000 Russian business managers. In 1989, the CCI created its Economic Development Program, the first-ever business management training program for Soviet entrepreneurs. Today the CCI has seven Russian partner offices that oversee the work of more than fifty satellite operations throughout Russia. For more information about the CCI, visit its Web site at www.ccisf.org/.
Contact: Loretta Brandon 814-898-6063 (O) e-mail: lzb6@psu.edu
Contact:
Loretta Brandon
814-898-6063 (O)
E-mail: lzb6@psu.edu