In celebration of World Trade Week, the Alabama District Export Council, with support from the Export Alabama Alliance, will host a dinner at The Club in Birmingham featuring special guest speaker Lieutenant General (Retired) Daniel W. Christman, senior counselor to the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The event will be held on Thursday, May 24th, with a reception beginning at 6 PM, followed by dinner at 7 PM.
“This is an exceptional honor to have LTG Christman join us for this event. He has such in-depth knowledge on foreign policy and national defense topics," said Hilda Lockhart, director of International Trade and DEC member. "We are very interested in hearing his thoughts and insight on how the recent ratified free trade agreements will affect our region.”
Christman, a career military office retired from active duty in 2001, has appeared as a military analyst for CNN International during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a frequent contributor to CNN, and has also appeared on ABC, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, and C-SPAN to discuss defense and national security issues. Christman has written and lectured extensively on leadership and national defense, including the ongoing war against international terrorism.
Before joining the Chamber, Christman served for two years as the president and executive director of the Kimsey Foundation, where he helped launch a program on political reform in China in coordination with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He served for five years as the superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He also served for two years as assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during which time he traveled with and advised Secretary of State Warren Christopher. He was centrally involved during this period with negotiations between Israel and Syria as a member of the Secretary's Middle East Peace Team. Further, Christman represented the United States as a member of NATO's Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium.
Closely affiliated with the U.S. Commercial Service's U.S. Export Assistance Centers, the Alabama District Export Councils (DECs) is an organization comprised of leaders from the local business community. The DEC Members are appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. These international trade professionals use their knowledge and international business experience to act as consultants to small and medium sized businesses who want to export their products into markets outside of the United States. For more than 30 years, DECs have served the United States by assisting companies in their local communities export, thus promoting our country's economic growth and creating new and higher-paying jobs for their communities
Cost for the event is $60. For more information and/or to register for the event, please contact Nelda Segars at 205-731-1331