Where We Are 
Understanding the Financial Crisis
Finance professor George Morgan recently moderated a regional public forum "Understanding the financial crisis: our region’s perspective," that featured presentations from area business professionals.
Morgan was invited to moderate the panel by Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia, which organized and co-sponsored the event, along with Cox Business.
The panelists were Bob Brudzinski, small business advisor, ChangeUp Management; Nick Conte, principal, Woods Rogers; Randy Donaldson, vice president/engineer, CEI-Roanoke; Harold McLeod, Roanoke market president, Wachovia Bank; Rhonda Spangler, realtor, RE/MAX All Points; and Ronald Thelin Jr., U.S. Trust Bank of America. The panelists offered their views on the impact of the recession on residents and businesses in Southwest Virginia and responded to questions from the audience on consumer confidence and the impact of the federal stimulus package.
Morgan, who is the SunTrust Professor of Finance, does research on the use and risks of futures trading and the management and regulation of commercial banking organizations and their regulatory capital positions. He has assisted the media on various stories on the financial crisis. Morgan and finance professors Raman Kumar and Randy Billingsley will be featured in a story on the financial crisis in a forthcoming issue of Virginia Tech’s Research magazine.
The forum was held at the Roanoke Higher Education Center.
Photo by Gene Marrano, used with permission.