Ron Foxcroft to keynote 2009 Indiana Logistics Summit

INDIANAPOLIS – Ron Foxcroft is a man of many talents… a logistics entrepreneur, an NCAA basketball referee and the inventor, manufacturer and worldwide distributor of the most popular whistle on the planet. Foxcroft has traveled the globe speaking to professionals about leadership and what it takes to get ahead in business and logistics. On Sept. 22, Foxcroft will present the keynote address at the seventh annual Indiana Logistics Summit in Indianapolis.

Co-hosted by the Ports of Indiana and Purdue University at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, this event brings together top officials from business, academia and government to discuss how to make Indiana’s transportation, distribution and logistics industry more competitive and provide first-hand accounts of how they see our state moving forward in the supply chain sector.

“This summit will provide interesting discussions on how the logistics industry is coping with the economic downturn and what companies are doing to put themselves in a leadership position when we make the turn,” said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana. “This state has an unmatched transportation system and the summit serves as Indiana’s premier event for executives to discuss how we can grow our economy through logistics.”

At this summit, attendees will hear about:

• The State of Freight in Indiana

• Indiana’s Logistics Scorecard

• Industry Outlooks for Road, Rail, Water & Air

• Logistics Leadership in a Tough Economy

• A Study of Agriculture Logistics: How a small town bridge influenced a region’s economy

• How do we become #1 in logistics?

• Logistics Issues in Workforce, Infrastructure, Policy & Awareness

• High-Tech Distribution Centers at “The Crossroads of America”

• And much more

“The logistics industry is critical to Indiana because of our manufacturing base and our role as a crossroads for most major Midwest markets,” said John Schneider, assistant vice president for industry research at Purdue University. “Purdue has more than 80 active logistics-related programs and projects, and many of these are born out of discussions from this summit. Logistics will continue to be a key component to the future of Indiana’s economy.”

Speakers at the summit will include Indiana Secretary of Commerce Mitch Roob as well as CEOs and top officials from the Ports of Indiana, Conexus Indiana, Integrated Distribution Services, D.B Schenker, Indiana Rail Road Co., AEP River Operations, Langham Logistics, Brightpoint, Informa Economics, Indiana Soybean Alliance & Indiana Corn Marketing Council, KM Stemler Co., Appian and many more.

Keynote speaker Ron Foxcroft is the inventor of the Fox 40 Pealess Whistle which is now sold in 140 countries and is used worldwide in almost all major sports and by safety professionals involved in air, land and water search and rescue missions. As the founder of Fox 40 International, Foxcroft was named by Profit Magazine as one of the ‘10 Top Canadian Entrepreneurs of the Decade.’ As a ‘basketball guy,’ Foxcroft was Canada’s only NCAA referee and he has officiated over 1,500 international games in 30 countries, including the gold medal game in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame and named by Referee Magazine one of the 52 most influential referees in North American officiating history. Foxcroft is currently employed by the NBA to evaluate the performance of referees.

Foxcroft is also a logistics entrepreneur. Starting in 1982, he built Fluke Transport from three trucks to 176 trucks and 475 trailers. Beginning with 250 thousand square feet of warehouse space in 1984, Fluke Warehousing now encompasses 1.3 million square feet. As chairman of the board at the John C. Munro International Airport, Foxcroft has also played a key role in making the Hamilton facility the largest courier/cargo airport in Canada. Foxcroft received an honorary doctor of laws degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, was named Hamilton’s 1997 ‘Distinguished Citizen of the Year’ and is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal.

Registration for the Indiana Logistics Summit is $200 per person, which includes lunch and all program materials. For more information or to register online, visit www.indianalogistics.com. For registration information, contact Kathy Walters at (765) 494-2758 or kw@purdue.edu. For media, program and sponsorship information, contact Jody Peacock at (317) 233-6225 or jpeacock@portsofindiana.com