The Head of Wells Fargo/Wachovia (John Stumpf ), The Head of Bank Of America (Ken Lewis) and the Head of Duke Power (Jim Rogers) held a forum with the help of the Charlotte Chamber today to discuss the outlook of the Charlotte Region. They were joined by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker.
Each gave speeches to include a forcast of 2010 and National/Regional projections of the coming months.
It is rare to get such powerful leaders under one roof and listen to diverse projections.
The bankers (Mr. Stumpf and Mr. Lewis) held out optimism for the coming year and reconfirming their commitment to the Charlotte region. Both alluded to a fault that over optimistic views have been evident in the past, but held fast that the recession is over.
Wells Fargo's John Stumpf applauded the business atmosphere here in Charlotte and reveled in our city's friendliness and abundance of highly trained workers. Bank of America's Mr. Ken Lewis lauded the positives in the markets and was genuinely praised for his longtime excellent service to our region and the nation. The Charlotte Chamber took pause to applaud his long term efforts.
Mr. Lacker took a parrellel view on future optimism and pointed to the Fed's success in stopping a basic disaster that was brewing last year. Mr. Lacker also pointed that the Federal Reserve System is sound.
Duke Energy's Jim Rogers took exception to an optimistic view and had an outlook that used leading indicators to present that huge hurdles must be overcome before the cheers from the crowd of economic bliss returns. He pointed that jobs will be the source of economic recovery, and that GDP growth figures were clouded by federal stimulus.
Mr. Lewis added humor and alluded that a "gong show" hook should applied the next time Jim Rogers played such a sad song.
Clarified, Mr. Rogers expounded that the region would gain enormously if the reigns of federal handcuffs on nuclear power be released and allow the region to star in a global role of leadership in power generation. He also pointed out that nuclear power is the only Carbon friendly source of energy viable to meet demand that leaves a Zero carbon footprint.
He alluded that a Cap and Trade Bill would be extremely remiss without a strong nuclear presence.
It was a fascinating year-end meeting. It was broadcast live locally and well attended. I was left wanting them to expound a bit further and hoping for a similar meeting in the near future.
Charlotte is positioned well to make solid forward movement. Leadership will play a major role on how well we progress.
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