The first annual 2006 International Business Conference, held on campus this past week, provided a unique opportunity for Latter-day Saint entrepreneurs and business owners to participate in a wide range of educational sessions while also familiarizing them with the mission of BYU-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center.
"There are so many great things happening here that we knew we had to find a vehicle to tell more people," said Dal Zemp ('84), a philanthropic entrepreneur from Canada and one of the prime organizers of the event. "This year we did it on a relatively small level, about 150 people, so we could experiment and try to find the right strategy to make this grow a lot bigger. What we found is that, universally across the board, everyone is committed to return and bring two-or-three of their friends. So, we expect next year's event to be three or four times the size of this year's."
"Across the board, everyone has had a fantastic experience. For a first-time conference to have the quality of speakers we've had has been amazing, and everyone we invited said yes. Everyone," he added.
"I think it's been a spectacular conference," agreed Mark H. Willes, vice chairman of the BYU-Hawaii/PCC Presidents' Leadership Council (PLC) and retired chairman, president & CEO of Times Mirror Inc. "I think Dal Zemp did a remarkable job in putting together a program that was absolutely first rate. The people that he got to the conference are wonderful. I think they've had a good time and, as a result, between the presenters and the groups they were presenting to, it's just been stunning."
Zemp noted the conference also proved to be quite spiritual. "The conference, because of the keynote speakers — Mark Willes and Sheri Dew — started out on a spiritual note. Honestly, it caught me by surprise. It became such a spiritual experience that the idea of mixing the creation of wealth, commerce and business into three days of an intensely spiritual experience caught me off guard. That a temporal conference like this could have such spiritual implications is really profound."
"If you're fortunate enough to be blessed with time, talent and means, money becomes a stewardship obligation," added Zemp, who is a member of the BYU-Hawaii/ Polynesian Cultural Center Presidents' Leadership Council, which also held their semi-annual meeting in Laie this week. "Latter-day Saints realize very quickly that the money is not yours to begin with and that you have a special stewardship. I feel very strongly that mine has been to work with and support the mission of BYU-Hawaii."
Dr. Kimball Taylor, M.D., who presented on past and present conflicts in Israel and is the president of the charitable Children of Israel Foundation said he was also impressed with "the incredible spirituality of so many people within the LDS Church that are leaders in business and industry. It's interesting to see how these people have been guided by the Spirit, and how the most important thing in life to them is not their money but the Lord and their families."
In his presentation, Ross Jardine — a stock market guru and real estate investor — spoke on the "stewardship of wealth. Everything you have, and everything you will have, is the Lord's. It doesn't end with our tithing: There are opportunities to help people in their lives," he said. He added he has a friend who prays, "Help me find someone who needs my help today."
Michael Kipp and Craig Barker, partners in American Consulting, Technology and Research, a Provo, Utah-based company, provided one of best examples of combined business acumen and spiritual reliance.
"We spoke on revelation and emerging technology," said Kipp, whose company is "an example of how the Lord can and will work with us. We decided to set up a business model that would put God first, and we would seek revelation. We strive to put our people first as our most valuable resource, and we continually ask ourselves as a management, are we doing what the Lord wants us to do." He added that advancements in science and technology are "gifts from God."
He pointed to the example of the Latter-day Saint Conference Center in Salt Lake City. "That conference hall is an enormous cavern that...should have huge sound problems. When it was being built, the technology to handle the acoustical feedback, the problematic issues of handling echoes…none of that was built," he said, adding that when the engineers approached President Hinckley, he told them, 'The Lord will solve the problem.' It is literally a miracle in our day, and most of us are not aware of it."
In another example, Kipp explained they allow their employees 15 minutes each day "to get themselves spiritually prepared for the day," and his partner, Barker, challenged everybody to "bring Christ and revelation into that other third of your life...your occupation, or the things you do during the day" outside home and Church.
Jill Davis, founder and creative director of her own online scrapbooking company, said, "The overall conference has been life-changing for me. I kept thinking the whole time I was here, I wished everybody I loved could be here."
The conference and the Presidents' Leadership Council meetings conclude with a golf tournament at Turtle Bay Resort on Saturday.