SOUTHERN GOVERNORS' ASSOCIATION

News Release

August 24, 2001                         For more information, contact:
For Immediate Release                   Jen Waller, Communications Assistant
                                        202-624-5897 or jenwaller@sso.org

GOVERNOR PAUL E. PATTON OF KENTUCKY TO HOST SGA'S ANNUAL MEETING

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In two weeks, Governor Paul E. Patton of Kentucky, Chairman of the Southern Governors' Association (SGA), will host SGA's 67th annual meeting in Lexington, Kentucky. The meeting will be held September 9-11 at the Marriott's Griffin Gate Resort Hotel. Key issues to be addressed include Research and Development, Energy Policy, Welfare to Work Practices and Natural Resources Conservation.

"As SGA Chairman, I am pleased with the initiatives we have addressed this year and look forward to presenting our accomplishments at the annual meeting," said Governor Paul E. Patton of Kentucky. "While in Lexington, we will be releasing two major reports for our region - one on Energy Policy in the South and another on the impact of Research, Development and Technology on the region's economy. The meeting agenda is crowded with names of people who are leaders in their field, and for me, the most rewarding part of the SGA meetings is the interaction with my fellow governors. We gain practical ideas for problems we face everyday in our respective states and also develop synergy around new opportunities."

Sessions related to the annual meeting theme, "The Triple Crown of the South's New Economy: Research, Development and Technology," will begin on Sunday afternoon with the keynote address by Alfred R. Berkeley III, Vice Chairman of NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. He will offer a unique perspective on the importance of research to the nation's economy. After the opening session, the SGA Advisory Committee on Research, Development and Technology (RD&T) will submit a report to the governors detailing recommendations to enhance research capacity in the South. During this plenary session, the governors will be joined by Nobel Laureate Dr. Phillip A. Sharp who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1993, and Historian Art Mollela, Director of the Smithsonian Lemelson Center for Innovation and Invention. Business broadcast journalist Meryl Comer will moderate the discussion.

On Monday, the first item on the agenda is the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) annual meeting and breakfast. Then the governors will convene in joint session with presidents from 12 of the South's major research universities to advance their joint partnership on research as a building block for the future. Among the presidents who will be in attendance are those from the University of Alabama, the University of Kentucky, Florida State University, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The conference will continue with an address by Vice President Dick Cheney who will discuss the Administration's proposed energy policy. During the discussion, the governors will highlight their energy priorities as well by releasing an in-depth, comprehensive report on energy policy in the South. Following the Vice President's address, all conference attendees are invited to a luncheon with White House Correspondent and author Helen Thomas. She will talk about her years as a journalist and, afterward, sign copies of her recent book, Front Row at the White House.

On Tuesday, after a breakfast meeting by the Southern Growth Policies Board (SGPB), SGA will host a plenary session on the South's continuing challenge of moving people from welfare to work. Speakers Rodney J. Carroll, President and CEO of the Welfare to Work partnership, and Michael Dulan, President of Community Development Banking for Bank of America, will talk about the leadership roles that their organizations have taken in moving people from welfare to work and in adopting business practices that promote a stronger economy from the bottom up.

The annual meeting will conclude with a session by incoming SGA Chairman, Governor M.J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., of Louisiana, at which he will launch his initiative on natural resources conservation. The speaker will be Steve McCormick, President and CEO of the Nature Conservancy.

Media Logistics

All sessions will take place at the Marriott's Griffin Gate Resort Hotel. There is no registration fee for media attending meeting sessions; however, media must be registered to receive credentials which permit access to the sessions and press conferences only. Visit the SGA Web site at www.southerngovernors.org for hotel and registration information.

Upon arrival, please check in at the registration desk in the pre-function area adjacent to the ballroom. You must have a photo id. Following registration, go to the media headquarters in the Lanes End/Dixiana Room to pick up credentials beginning at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, September 8. To receive credentials, media must show valid press identification.

For more information, contact Rusty Cheuvront, Director of Communications for Governor Paul E. Patton at 502-564-2611 or Jen Waller, SGA Communications Assistant at 202-624-5897.

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Founded in 1934, the Southern Governors' Association is the oldest and historically largest of the regional governors' associations. The mission of SGA is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan, regional forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state and regional problems. The association's membership is composed of the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia.