College of Business Hosts Fair Trade and Organic Development Experts April 15, April 21

Michael Conroy, a fair-trade expert and economist, and Mark Retzloff, chairman of Aurora Organic Dairy, will speak at Colorado State University this month as part of the Sustainable Enterprise Speaker Series sponsored by the College of Business.

Conroy, who serves on the board of several fair-trade certification organizations including TransFair USA, will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in Clark A207. He’ll talk about his new book, "Branded! How the Certification Revolution is Transforming Global Corporations" and discuss how the development of corporate, social and environmental certification systems have transformed the ways retailers conduct business.

The event, sponsored in conjunction with the Center for Fair and Alternative Trade Studies, or CFATS, is free and open to the public; however, reservations are encouraged at http://biz.colostate.edu/rsvp/MichaelConroy.aspx.

Retzloff, chairman of Aurora Organic Dairy and director of Aurora’s organic and sustainability initiatives, will speak on April 21 about "Aurora Organic Dairy – Sustainable from Seed to Shelf." He’ll talk about starting and managing successful sustainable businesses in the organic industry.

Retzloff will speak on Monday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m. in Clark A103 on the Colorado State campus. Reservations can be made online at http://biz.colostate.edu/rsvp/MarkRetzloff.aspx.

In fall 2007, the College of Business at Colorado State began offering an 18-month master’s degree in Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise that teaches students to use entrepreneurial, sustainable approaches to solve global challenges in energy, agriculture, health, environmental management and economic development.

For more information about this event or other Sustainable Enterprise Speaker Series events, visit www.biz.colostate.edu.

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