President of Detroit Chamber to speak at GVSU

The president of the Detroit Regional Chamber and former member of the George W. Bush administration will be the featured speaker at a November 28 breakfast event sponsored by the Seidman College of Business.

The Honorable Sandy K. Baruah is president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, one of the largest in the country. His speech, “The Rate of Change: Is Michigan Reaching for Sixth or Stuck in Second?” will take place November 28, at 8 a.m. in Loosemore Auditorium.

Baruah joined the Detroit Chamber in 2010 after a career in Washington, D.C. He served as President George W. Bush’s last administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. In this role, he was responsible for the SBA’s $18 billion small business loan portfolio. Baruah was one of the senior officials shaping the federal government’s response to the 2008 credit crisis and assistance to the U.S. automotive industry.

Prior to leading the SBA, Baruah served as U.S. assistant secretary of commerce. He led the Economic Development Administration, served as the senior advisor to Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez regarding the 2010 Census and represented the U.S. at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in France.

After leaving government service in early 2009, he was a Distinguished Fellow at the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, a think tank comprised of corporate CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

For more information or to register, contact the Seidman College of Business at (616) 331-7100.