Executive Forum welcomes CEO

On Jan. 24, Georgia Power President and CEO Paul Bowers visited both the Atlanta and Macon campuses of Mercer University to give a presentation to the Mercer Executive Forum.
Funded in large part by BB&T, the Executive Forum of Mercer University aims to be an outreach program of the business school and to provide a resource for Macon and Atlanta business leaders.
The Forum has existed for 33 years and is designed to bridge the local business communities to Mercer.
“It is a business enrichment program in a way that goes beyond day to day,” Director of Development for Stetson’s School of Business and Economics Paul Snyder stated.
Snyder and others are responsible for organizing each of the four speakers for the Executive Forum events every year.
Though a lot of planning goes into each event, Snyder said that the great amount of support from Mercer as a whole helped to make the event planning easier.
He often serves as a liaison for the guest speakers when they come to town.
Previous year’s speakers have included Lou Dobbs, Nancy Grace, Saxby Chambliss, William S. Cohen and Newt Gingrich.
Last semester, John Goodman and Stephen Hayes both spoke.
Bowers’ talk was titled “The State of Energy in Georgia” and dealt with energy in Georgia and the United States as a whole.
He spoke for about 30 minutes then opened the floor for questions from the audience.
He stated that it was an honor to speak on behalf of all of Georgia Power, a company that has been nationally recognized for its service.
“It’s about the team, not about me,” Bowers explained.
He also took a stance on power that examines and utilizes many different sources of energy, including coal and nuclear power.
Bowers showed slides of the planning of a nuclear power plant construction site called Vogtle 3&4.
“These events are really a great opportunity to interact and gain professional development skills,” Mercer Ambassador and junior Allison Harrison said.
Harrison works with alumni services and has attended the event in the past.
BB&T is a major sponsor of the Executive Forum. BB&T aims to bring people to market from whom students and members of the community would benefit.
“BB&T has made a commitment to this school of business to sponsor this event and it helps make the community a better place to live,” BB&T City President Scott Seigal said..
The Executive Forum of Mercer has several missions to achieve through its meetings.
The Forum aims to present excellent speakers on current events, promote the university within the Forum, and provide networking opportunities to members of the Forum.
Bowers’ talk was the fourth of this year’s speakers for the Executive Forum of Mercer.
The next speaker will be Towers Watson Managing Director Julie Gebauer.
On March 19, Gebauer will speak about the engagement gap.
The event is by invitation-only. These invitations will go out a month before the event to business leaders and other strong members of the community.