Kansas Inc. sees NATO conference as a step in marketing the state to Eastern Europe.
Charles Ranson, president of Kansas Inc., remembers well when he got the idea for the conference on the history and future of NATO, a three-day confab hosted by Kansas University that begins today.
It was in April 1998. Because of the Asian economic crisis, Japan's demand for agricultural products was down. Japan is the state's second-largest trading partner.
Ranson, whose job is running the state's economic strategic planning institution, was looking for new markets to diversify Kansas' trading partners.
Looking at countries that had emerged into capitalism after decades behind the Iron Curtain, Ranson saw an opportunity.
"This is a market that has a good potential," he said.
"I developed a concept (for the conference) on paper and visited with (former) Senator (Robert) Dole about it. He thought it was a good idea. I visited with people at the Dole Institute. Then I stepped back and let them bring together a host of institutions."
Ranson also offered $10,000 for the cost of running the conference, which is organized by the Robert J. Dole Institute for Public Service and Public Policy.
The Dole Institute is putting up $25,000 and Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation is putting up $5,000, said Burdett Loomis, interim director of the Dole Institute.
For Ranson, the conference is a first step to heighten awareness about Kansas in the former Iron Curtain countries and to eventually open more markets for the state.
In contrast with Japan, which purchases about 25 percent of the state's products, former Iron Curtain countries of Central and Eastern Europe purchase about 2 percent.
Three foreign publications, The Economist and the Financial Times, both of London, and the Kiev (Ukraine) Post, have expressed an interest in the conference. All have requested papers to be sent to them when the conference is finished, said Paul Danieri, associate professor of political science.
What other foreign journalists may show up is unknown, said Mary Jane Dunlap of University Relations. There is no central office for coordinating press credentials for the conference.
-- Erwin Seba's phone message number is 832-7145. His e-mail address is eseba@ljworld.com.
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