"Consequences of Offshore Drilling on the Carolina Coast, Positive and Negative" is the theme of the 13th Annual Economic Growth Summit, set for Friday, Aug. 6 at Coastal Carolina University's Wall Auditorium.

The annual economic summit will take place from 9 a.m. to noon, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To make reservations, e-mail growthsummit@coastal.edu.

The summit is sponsored by the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration at Coastal Carolina University and the Cameron School of Business at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

This year's summit will feature discussions with faculty experts about the economic and environmental impact of the Gulf oil spill on the Carolina coastline as well as a consideration of new sources of energy for the future of the area.

"This gathering of experts from two coastal universities will provide a comprehensive overview of this extremely important issue," said J. Ralph Byington, dean of CCU's Wall College of Business.

Summit presenters include Jennifer Culbertson, research associate in UNCW's Department of Biology and Marine Biology; Taylor Damonte, director of CCU's Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism; Paul T. Gayes, Palmetto Professor and director of CCU's Burroughs & Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies; and Peter W. Schumann, professor of economics at UNCW.

The schedule is as follows:

8 to 9 a.m. – Registration

9 to 9:15 a.m. – Welcome

9:15 to 9:45 a.m. – Grand Strand Area Tourism Sector Performance During the Gulf Oil Spill (Technical Analysis of Lodging Demand in S.C.'s Grand Strand)

9:45 to 10:15 a.m. – Ecological Effects of the Oil Spill on the Carolina Coast (Biological Impact of Oil Spills on the Carolina Coast)

10:15 to 10:30 a.m. – Break

10:30 to 11 a.m. – Transitional Energy Realities (Potential Economic Opportunities for S.C. and the Grand Strand in the Changing Approach to our Energy Future)

11 a.m. to noon – Panel Discussion (Immediate and Long-term Impacts of Offshore Drilling off the Carolina Coast)