A two-day education conference organized for business owners engaged in the related housing and construction industry will be held April 23-24, 2009 in Greenville, SC at the Westin Poinsett Hotel.

January 30, 2009 --- A two-day education conference organized for business owners engaged in the related housing and construction industry will be held April 23-24, 2009 in Greenville, SC at Westin Poinsett Hotel. The theme of the conference  (“Thinking Outside of the Frame”) will focus on business issues that affect many small businesses, particularly in light of the recent economic turmoil.

Sessions include marketing, human resources, financial, email marketing, search engine optimization techniques, technology and improving sales. Industry leaders have been chosen as our speakers and programming is designed so that anyone engaged in construction will benefit from these business solutions sessions. Two (or three) simultaneous presentations will occur and attendees can select a topic of specific interest. Attendees will also be able to visit a variety of tabletop displays from sponsors and spend time networking.

In addition, a 3-hour AIA-approved continuing education unit (CEU) program is planned for architects at no charge to address: the basics of timber framing, structural insulated panels and proper installation of windows. The program begins at 9:00 am, Friday, April 24th. There are 3 hours of AIA-approved industry education credits for registered architects.

The country's leading business experts and consultants will address the group, including Tedd Benson, of Bensonwood Homes. Since 1974, Tedd Benson has been the founding owner of Bensonwood Homes. During that time, Tedd has championed high-performance, sustainable homebuilding-always with an emphasis on innovation, quality, and social responsibility. He and the company have been featured on a number of shows in the PBS series, This Old House, as well as Good Morning America, and the Today Show. In addition, Tedd has authored four seminal books on timberframing, the first of which, Building the Timber Frame House, (Scribner’s Sons, 1980, Simon & Schuster, 1995) was instrumental in the revival of this centuries-old form of building with heavy timber. Over the past decade, Tedd’s unwavering search for a new and better way to build has resulted in an exclusive design/build system called Open-Built®. Open-Built acknowledges what actually happens in the building process and seeks to eliminate inefficiencies and waste.In addition, John Abrams of South Mountain Company will address the group on ownership issues. He has updated his book and published “Companies We Keep.” The book is structured around eight principles-from “Sharing Ownership” and “Cultivating Workplace Democracy” to “Thinking Like Cathedral Builders” and “Committing to the Business of Place”-that Abrams has discovered in the 32 years since he cofounded South Mountain Company on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Together, these principles reveal communities of enterprise as a potent force of change that can-and will- improve the way Americans do business.

Other noted speakers include: Brian Flook, author of  "Master What Matters: How to Create New Home Marketing that Guarantees Increased Traffic”; Hal Von Nessen, Resh Marketing; Margot Larson, KardaLarson, LLC, Dr. James Smith, Parsec Financial, Jonathan Orpin, New Energyworks Timber Frames; Dr. Bill Stuart & Dr. Laura Grace, Mississippi State University; Mike Kanaby, FMI Corp.; Sundee Kapur, NCR ecommerce; Al Cobb, SIPschool, Dr. Lowell “Duke” Kuehn, Pacific Northwest Consulting, Greg Stine, Polaris, Inc., Reid Greenberg, Trillium Digital Marketing, Jerry Rouleau, J. Rouleau & Associates, Amy Cornelius, LEED AP, Hugh Lofting TF, Inc., Stewart Elliott, Riverbend, Kyle Ryan, Motivator & Coach.