Former U.S. Congressman Mark Sanford and Stan Gibson, president of Bank of America, South Carolina, will be the featured speakers at the 2001 Coastal Economic Conference, scheduled for April 19 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Coastal Carolina University’s Wall Auditorium. Presented by the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration for area business people, the conference will address the role of effective leadership in the success of a business or organization in a two-hour seminar titled “Leadership: Observations, Practices and Experience.” The event is free and open to the public.

Sanford, a gubernatorial candidate, served as 1st District congressman from 1994 to 2000, when he retired to honor a self-imposed term limit of six years. He was a leader in the movement to balance the budget and reduce the national debt. He is a partner in the firm of Norton & Sanford, a Charleston real estate company. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Furman University and an M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Prior to his appointment as president of Bank of America, South Carolina, Gibson was an executive with NationsBank and C&S Bank. He has been a member of the boards of many civic organizations in South Carolina, including the Palmetto Business Forum and Spoleto Festival USA. He has earned degrees from the University of South Carolina and Louisiana State University’s Graduate School of the South.

Myrtle Beach businessman and civic leader William H. “Billy” Alford will receive the Jason Ammons Free Enterprise Award, which recognizes individuals whose careers have combined entrepreneurial excellence and responsible citizenship. The award was created by the family of the late Jason Ammons, a Myrtle Beach businessman. Past recipients of the award include Cecil Brandon, Clay Brittain, Jr., Hugh M. Chapman and Gary Schaal.

Alford, a 1977 Coastal graduate, is co-founder of A&I Fire and Water Restoration Company. He has led a distinguished career in public service in addition to successful business pursuits in the Grand Strand area. Alford has served as chair of the S.C. Highway Commission and the Grand Strand Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees. Alford also served as chair of the Horry County Higher Education Commission, playing an important role in the establishment of Coastal Carolina University as an independent institution in 1993. He was named an honorary founder of Coastal in 1999.

For more information, contact the Wall College of Business at 349- 2071.