Dropping a Line: The Economic Impact of Fishing Lake Erie

CLEVELAND: Charlie Evans, CEO for FLW Outdoors, the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, will speak on the impact professional fishing and the successful revitalization of Lake Erie’s fish population have on economic development, tourism, and lakefront development efforts in Cleveland at noon on Friday, September 28, 2007, at The City Club of Cleveland.

Evans is in Cleveland for the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship, which is taking place at Voinovich Bicentennial Park September 27-30, 2007.

FLW Outdoors was founded in 1979 as Operation Bass when Mike Whitaker of Gilbertsville, Kentucky, started conducting one-day, weekend bass tournaments. The first FLW Outdoors tournament season followed in 1980 when the company held 12 events in two states and awarded $20,000 in prize money.

In 1982, Evans joined FLW Outdoors as a tournament director. He was promoted to vice president shortly after starting with the company and promoted again to head of tournaments in 1984. Evans was promoted to COO in 1996, which is the same year he started hosting Wal-Mart FLW Tour weigh-ins on national television. He was subsequently promoted to the CEO post in 2004. Today, in addition to his other roles at FLW Outdoors, Evans co-hosts the FLW Outdoors television show on Fox Sports Net.

This Friday Forum is in partnership with the Greater Cleveland Sports Fishing Commission.

Wal-Mart and Corporate Sustainability

C. Douglas McMillon, president and CEO of SAM’S CLUB and executive vice president of Wal-Mart, will speak about Wal-Mart’s new program Sustainability 360, a company-wide initiative to promote sustainable practices in all its corporate practices and to engage employees, suppliers, communities, and customers in the process, at noon on Monday, October 1, 2007, at The City Club of Cleveland.

While still in high school, McMillon worked two consecutive summers as an associate at Wal-Mart distribution centers in Northwest Arkansas. In 1990, while attending graduate school at the University of Tulsa, he became a buyer trainee for Wal-Mart in Tulsa.

In his tenure with Wal-Mart organization, he has served as a buyer, a divisional merchandise manager, vice president and general merchandise manager for SAM'S CLUB International, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for Wal-Mart, and executive vice president of SAM'S CLUB merchandising and replenishment. He has headed SAM’S CLUB since 2005.

McMillon serves on the board of directors for the National Chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and the Benton County Sunshine School, and on the executive board of directors for the Center of Retailing Excellence at the University of Arkansas.

McMillon graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville with a bachelor of science in business administration. He has also received his master of business administration in finance from the University of Tulsa.

Tickets for this City Club Special Forum are $18 for members and $30 for non-members. Lunch is included. They can be purchased by calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at www.cityclub.org.