Business and Community Services Bldg., Suite 128
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0130
(319) 273-JPEC (5732)     Fax: (319) 273-5733
E-mail: [email protected]     www.jpec.org

Creating a Culture for Entrepreneurship at UNI!

Morning Keynote

Dan Leese

Dan Leese is a seasoned professional of the Beverage Alcohol Industry. He majored in marketing at the University of Northern Iowa where he currently serves on the College of Business Administration�s Dean�s Advisory Board. Dan began his career with Adolph Coors in 1979 and worked in the beer industry until 1987.

In 1987, Dan joined Brown- Forman Beverages Worldwide as a marketing director for Korbel Champagne. He held various positions with Brown-Forman, including Vice President of Marketing; Senior Vice President, General Manager of Fetzer Vineyards; and finally Executive Vice President, Managing Director of Brown-Forman�s U.S. Wine Business.

In January 2001, Dan joined Beringer Blass Wine Estates as Senior Vice President, general manager of the Premium Division. In January of 2003, he was promoted to chief operating officer of BBWE�s North American Business and to President in 2004. Dan is widely considered an industry expert on portfolio development, organizational design and long term strategic planning.

Dan established and became President of 585 Wine Partners in 2005 when he and a business partner purchased the Red Truck Wine Brand. He, his wife and two friends have since led the dynamic wine company through a period of sustained growth and its portfolio of high-quality premium wines includes the expanded Red Truck Wines brand as well as Picket Fence Russian River Valley Vineyards, Bivio Italia Wines and Steelhead Wines of Dry Creek Valley. 585 Wine Partners was named a �Top 30� USA wine company in 2006 and 2007 and has begun distribution in the United Kingdom.

Dan and Katy, his wife of 25 years, reside with their three children in Mill Valley, California.

Afternoon Keynote

John Hall

After traveling extensively in his career in the packaging industry, John Hall was always amazed at the lack of local beer choices offered to the American beer consumer.

In 1986, fate struck John in the form of a thunderstorm in Dallas, Texas. His flight delayed by the inclement weather, Hall flipped through an in-flight magazine to pass the time. There he found his future in the form of an article on boutique beers. �I must be the only person in history who made a major career decision on the basis of a Delta Sky article,� John chuckles.

In the spring of 1988, after two years of thinking, researching, and planning, John scrapped his 20-year career with Container Corporation and opened the original Goose Island Brewpub, introducing Chicago to distinctive craft beer. In November of 1995, John and his son, Greg, who by then had become Goose Island�s brewmaster, opened a much larger brewery and bottling plant. In April 1999, Goose Island opened its second brewpub, Goose Island Wrigleyville, just south of Chicago�s historic Wrigley Field.

Goose Island Beer Company is now one of the largest craft breweries in the Midwest. The company distributes its line of 14 beers to 15 states and the United Kingdom. The brand was named �One of America�s 20 Best Breweries� by Food and Wine Magazine and cited as one of the most rapidly expanding Midwest microbreweries by the Institute for Brewing Studies. John grew up in Waterloo, IA, is a marketing graduate of UNI and holds an MBA from the University of Iowa. He and his wife, Pat, moved to Chicago in 1985 where the couple still lives and are strong supporters of the City of Chicago and many of its community organizations.