{"id":48,"date":"2026-06-18T19:14:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\/?page_id=48"},"modified":"2026-07-28T15:46:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:46:01","slug":"conference-agenda","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\/?page_id=48","title":{"rendered":"CONFERENCE AGENDA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Early Arrivals<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Sunday, October 4th <\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
5:00PM-7:00PM<\/td>Networking Reception<\/td><\/tr>
Monday, October 5th<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
7:00 AM-8:00 AM<\/td>Registration & Breakfast Networking<\/td><\/tr>
8:00 AM-8:15 AM<\/td>Welcome Remarks: Presented by PCI Leadership<\/td><\/tr>
8:15 AM \u2013 9:20 AM<\/td>Reading the Economy: What Business Leaders Need to Know Right Now <\/strong>– David Altig, <\/strong>Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Board, Atlanta<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
9:20 AM \u2013 9:40 AM<\/td>Break<\/td><\/tr>
9:40 AM \u2013 10:40 AM<\/td>The View from the Top: What Global Market Forces Mean for Your Business Right Now <\/strong>– Jeff Jirak, <\/strong>Global Business Unit Director, Powder Coatings and President North America, Akzo Nobel<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
10:40 AM \u2013 11:00 AM<\/td>Break<\/td><\/tr>
11:00 AM \u2013 12:00 PM<\/td>Consolidation is Coming: M&A Trends in Metal Fabrication and What They Mean for Custom Coaters<\/strong> <\/strong>– John Schuepbach, <\/strong>Phoenix Solutions Intl, LLC<\/em><\/em><\/td><\/tr>
12:00 PM \u2013 1:00 PM<\/td>Networking Lunch<\/td><\/tr>
1:00 PM \u2013 2:00 PM<\/td> Skip the Trial-and-Error: Focus on the Right Things, At the Right Time<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong> <\/strong><\/strong> – Eric Schultz, 7 Stages of Growth<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
2:00 PM \u2013 2:45 PM<\/td>Panel Discussion with Day One Speakers and Moderator<\/td><\/tr>
2:45 PM \u2013 3:00 PM<\/td>Break<\/td><\/tr>
3:00 PM \u2013 4:00 PM<\/td>Built Under Pressure: What American Manufacturers Did When the World Was on the Line<\/strong>  – <\/strong>A.J. Baime, Author, Arsenal of Democracy<\/u>, The Accidental President, Birdman<\/u><\/em><\/td><\/tr>
4:00 PM – 4:10 PM<\/td>Day 1 Wrap-Up, PCI ED<\/td><\/tr>
5:30 PM-6:30 PM<\/td>Hall of Fame Reception<\/td><\/tr>
6:30 PM-9:00 PM<\/td>Hall of Fame Banquet<\/td><\/tr>
Tuesday, October 6th<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
8:00 AM-9:00 AM<\/td>AI Is Already Changing Your Business. The Question Is Whether You\u2019re Driving It<\/strong>, <\/strong>Chris Daigle, <\/strong>ChiefAIOfficer.com<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
9:00 AM-10:00 AM<\/td>Why Sales Gets a Free Pass\u2014 <\/strong>and Why That Has to Change<\/strong><\/strong>, Daniel Otamendi & Amit Jassal,<\/strong> Partner & Managing Director, Mensana<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
10:00 AM-10:15 AM<\/td>Break<\/td><\/tr>
10:15 AM-12:00 PM<\/td>AI Workshop:<\/em><\/strong> AI in Action: A Working Session for Your Business<\/strong><\/strong>, <\/strong>Chris Daigle, <\/strong>ChiefAIOfficer.com<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
12:00 PM-1:15 PM<\/td>Lunch<\/td><\/tr>
1:15 PM-2:00 PM<\/td>Demand on the RIse: What the Energy Build-Out Means for Powder Coating <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>, <\/strong>Scott Bishop, Electric Power Research Institute (<\/em>EPRI)<\/td><\/tr>
2:00 PM-3:00 PM<\/td>Where the Money Goes: Driving Profitability Through Smarter Cost Control<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>, John Schuepbach, <\/strong>Phoenix Solutions Intl, LLC<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
3:00 PM-3:15 PM<\/td>Break<\/td><\/tr>
3:15 PM-3:45 PM<\/td>Your Insurance Program Is Probably Overdue for a Hard Look<\/strong>, Brian Place,<\/strong> Senior Vice President, Director of Sales, Business Insurance<\/em><\/em>, Marsh McClennan<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
3:45 PM-4:30 PM<\/td>The Future of the Powder Coating Business \u2013 Panel Discussion w\/ Moderator<\/strong>
OEMs, custom coaters, and suppliers discuss upcoming market trends, automation, workforce challenges, and growth strategies.<\/td><\/tr>
5:00 PM-7:00 PM<\/td>Closing Networking Reception<\/td><\/tr>
7:00 PM<\/td>Meeting Concludes<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-48","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nPCI Business Growth Summit Agenda and Schedule<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover all the speakers and events taking place during the 2026 PCI Business Growth Summit, taking place in New Orleans Oct 4-6!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\/?page_id=48\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PCI Business Growth Summit Agenda and Schedule\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover all the speakers and events taking place during the 2026 PCI Business Growth Summit, taking place in New Orleans Oct 4-6!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\/?page_id=48\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PCI Business Growth Summit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T15:46:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/?page_id=48\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/?page_id=48\",\"name\":\"PCI Business Growth Summit Agenda and Schedule\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T19:14:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-28T15:46:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Discover all the speakers and events taking place during the 2026 PCI Business Growth Summit, taking place in New Orleans Oct 4-6!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/?page_id=48#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/?page_id=48\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/?page_id=48#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CONFERENCE AGENDA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessgrowthsummit.powdercoating.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"PCI Business Growth Summit\",\"description\":\"Elevate. 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