Speakers - Friday, March 5, 2021

08:30 a.m. – 08:45 a.m.
Akbar Khowaja, GM & Partner, Metal Networks AI
Member Spotlight

08:45 a.m. – 09:45 a.m.
Dan North, Chief Economist for North America, Euler Hermes
“Navigating 2021 and Beyond”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Dan North is one of North America’s most renowned and sought after speakers on the U.S. and Canadian economies. He has a unique ability to break down complex topics into understandable themes to create a highly informative and engaging presentation. Dan continually receives top ratings from the events he keynotes and is held in high esteem by his peers. Since 1996, Dan North has been with Euler Hermes, the world’s oldest and largest credit insurance company. As the company’s chief economist for North America, he uses macroeconomic and quantitative analyses to help manage Euler Hermes’ risk portfolio of more than $250 billion in annual trade transactions within the region. Prior to joining the company, Dan worked for Citicorp, using similar analyses to create outperforming investment strategies. Dan North earned his MBA from the Wharton School of Business. As one of the leading U.S. economists, Dan North has appeared on CNBC, Fox Business News, ABC News Now, France 24, and Bloomberg Radio and Television. He has been quoted by USA Today, Barron’s, Bloomberg Business Week, The Washington Post, Paris Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Times. After having predicted the 2008/2009 recession and its implications accurately, Dan North was ranked 4th on Bloomberg’s list of the 65 top economic forecasters in 2010. Dan North is a well-known and frequent economic commenter on some of the world’s largest and most influential media outlets, including CNN, New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Washington Post, Bloomberg and more. He is often asked to provide Euler Hermes’ viewpoints on issues including the Employment and JOLTS reports, GDP, the Federal Reserve, manufacturing, insolvencies, trade – including their impact on North American businesses.

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs, The University of Texas
“Making Sense of Our Turbulent World - What are the new strategic opportunities?"

Rye Druzin is a steel market reporter for Argus Media, a London-based price reporting agency (PRA). Located in Argus’ Americas headquarters in Houston, he has covered the North American steel industry since January 2019. Prior to Argus, Rye worked for Texas-based newspapers from 2014 through 2019 covering the oil and gas industry across the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford shale fields.

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Jack McCarthy, Senior VP, Supply Chain Management and Technical Product Sales, MRC Global
Panelist, Panel Discussion: "State of the Industry" 

Jack McCarthy is Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Management and Technical Product Sales for MRC Global, the largest pipe, valve and fitting distributor to the energy industry in the world. He leads an international team of product experts, supply chain professionals and inventory specialists, and is responsible for the management of the global PVF supply chain. McCarthy works closely with the most respected PVF suppliers in the world to support the upstream production, midstream pipeline, gas utilities and downstream and industrial sectors. Prior to joining MRC Global with the acquisition of LaBarge Pipe and Steel in 2005, he held roles in business development, sales and sales management in the industrial distribution industry. McCarthy is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a former vice president and board member of the National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors. McCarthy is a member of MRC Global’s Executive Management Team.

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
George Thompson, VP, Commercial, Dura-Bond Pipe LLC
Panelist, Panel Discussion: "State of the Industry" 

George Thompson is an energy and steel executive with expertise in strategically developing and leading commercial teams. He is Vice President of Commercial for Dura-Bond Industries. He has a history of effectively creating and leading people and organizations to long-term success in the tubular and steel industries. He is skilled in customer relationships, negotiation, operations management, procurement, strategic planning and business development. Prior to joining Dura-Bond Industries, he worked for almost 30 years for U S Steel Tubular. There he was responsible for worldwide tubular sales and strategy of tubular products. He managed over $3 billion a year in sales; 98 percent in the oil & gas industry. He is a graduate of Allegheny College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.