Educational Sessions

Economic Outlook: James E. Glassman, Managing Director & Senior Economist, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

James E. Glassman

Mr. James E. Glassman is a Managing Director and Senior Economist with JPMorgan Chase & Co. He works closely with the firm's chief investment officer, commercial banking, investment banking, and government relations groups. He publishes independent research on the principal forces shaping the economy and financial markets. Mr. Glassman's views are widely cited in the financial media, where he is a frequent commentator on economic policy issues.

From 1979 through 1988, Mr. Glassman served in a number of areas in research divisions at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington D.C. He joined the JPMorgan Chase & Co. family in 1988.

Mr. Glassman earned a bachelors' degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Subsequently, he was awarded a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University.

Metals Outlook: Leslie Norgren, Former Chief Procurement Officer, and President of Ryerson Procurement Corp. 

Creating a Competitive Advantage: Evolution of "The Buy"

Leslie Norgren

Leslie Norgren is an experienced supply chain and operations executive with more than 25 years of experience. She most recently served as Ryerson’s Chief Procurement Officer and President of Ryerson Procurement Corporation.

Norgren joined the Chicago based service center in 1986 as an Industrial Engineer before joining the information’s technology team as an Operations Training and Conversion Manager. In 1990, she was named Operations Manager at Ryerson’s carbon and stainless plate processing center and then in 1996 moved to the Brite Line flat roll processing center as General Manager. A few years later, she became the Merchandising Manager for aluminum products. In 2003, she was named Director of procurement for stainless and aluminum products with overall operating responsibility for the Brite Line processing facility. In 2005, She was named Vice President of procurement followed by her appointment in 2007 as Ryerson’s Chief Procurement Officer overseeing carbon, aluminum and stainless corporate supply chain and sourcing strategy along with corporate pricing, sales training and MRO procurement.

Norgren received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin in Industrial Engineering with an emphasis in material science and economics.  Leslie earned her MBA in operations with a concentration in materials management from DePaul University. She resides in Bolingbrook, IL with her husband and two children. 

Purchasing Networking Breakfast: Thursday, April 26

Data=Dollars: Aligning Technology with a Strategic Vision for Real Savings, Steven Miller, VP Global Strategic Sourcing, Wabash National Corporation, Karl Andersson, CEO, Technology Insight Corporation

Steven and Karl will show how data analysis was used to identify operational ineffectiveness, rogue spending, lost discounts/savings and financial risk in a before and after case study: Data=Dollars: Aligning Technology with a Strategic Vision for Real Savings. 

Steven Miller, Vice President Global Strategic Sourcing, Wabash National Corporation

Steven is the Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing at Wabash National Corporation.  Based in Lafayette, Indiana, and with sales of $1 billion, Wabash National is the  leading manufacturer of semi- trailers in North America. Wabash specializes in the design and production of dry freight vans, refrigerated vans, flatbed trailers, drop deck trailers, dump trailers, truck bodies and intermodal equipment.

With more than 29 years of global experience and management growth in lean manufacturing business operations, Steven achieved a record success in developing and implementing strategies for lean manufacturing, new product introduction, reducing supply chain costs, improving supplier quality and maximizing profitability across a global enterprise.  He was able to lead change, build organizational core competence, and build cross-functional team support to achieve business goals and bottom line results.

Karl Andersson, CEO, Technology Insight Corporation

Karl is the Founder and CEO of Technology Insight Corporation (TIC).  TIC is a leader in providing Purchase to Payable Analysis solutions.  TIC provides solutions to Fortune 2000 companies enabling them to leverage the data from its ERP system(s), procurement card programs and Travel and Expense programs. By utilizing TIC web based solutions companies have the ability to: analysis their business consistently across ERP systems; identify areas of lost profits; operational analysis; spend analysis; and risk analysis.

Karl’s skills in accounting and systems started at SUNY Plattsburgh.  Karl graduated from Plattsburgh with a BS in Accounting and minored in Computer Science.  Karl went on to work at Coopers and Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) where he earned his CPA and CISA.  After Coopers & Lybrand, Karl was a Manager of Business Process Reengineering for the Dexter Corporation which at the time was a Fortune 1,000 company.  While at Dexter, Karl gained international experience working on projects in Europe and Asia.  After Dexter, Karl returned to the auditing and consulting environment at Ernst and Young performing Application Controls Consulting services for SAP.   In 2000, Karl founded Technology Insight Corporation.

Endorsed Supplier Breakfast: Andy McNulty, Independent Agent and Facilitator, Carew International

• If You'd Shut Up I'd Buy Something: Thursday, April 26

​Sales professionals agree that listening is an important communication skill and that we could all improve our listening skills.  But how can we measure our listening skills effectiveness against a baseline?  This session will introduce you to both conceptual elements of baseline determination and potential self-actualization regarding listening skills for improved customer communication. 

• It's Not The Answers We Give, It's The Questions We Ask: Friday, April 27

​Sales professionals can be so well-versed and excited about products and services that we can let the features become our value proposition. And that creates "Extemporaneous Feature-Creaturing." Products and services are rarely so stand-alone compelling that simply presenting the features creates a reason to buy.  This session will address refining our diagnostic processes around understanding our customers' businesses. The takeaways will allow you to more effectively position your products and services to help your customers accomplish their improvement goals customized to their individual, desired outcomes. 

Andy McNulty, Independent Agent and Facilitator, Carew International

Andy is an independent agent and facilitator for Carew International, Personal Strengths USA, Kelly Lyons & Associates and HR Chally. Andy began his sales career in Dayton, Ohio working for a Yale forklift and material handling dealership where he became a certified facilitator of Carew’s flagship program: Dimensions of Professional Selling. After a move to Chicago, Andy worked as a National Account Manager for an OEM/MRO manufacturer and then moved to the tech side.

For three years Andy rode the dotcom wave that eventually took him back to Ohio. In 2001 Andy reconnected with Carew International in order to pursue his dream of facilitating and starting his own company. Since that time Andy has conducted over 300 personal development workshops and has instructed over 5,000 sales and sales management professionals.

His client interactions include Grainger, John Deere, Coca-Cola, Merrill Lynch, Toyota Material Handling, Weyerhaeuser, Dow Corning, and Pride Marketing.

Andy currently resides in Montgomery, Ohio with his wife Malene and three children.