Symposium focuses on strategic positioning of design, business
Thursday, March 28, 2013
MANHATTAN -- A conversation about "The Business of Design," featuring two leaders in the field, will kick off the student symposium sponsored by Kansas State University's department of apparel, textiles and interior design on Friday, April 5.
University alumni Jo Staffelbach Heinz, from the Dallas design firm Staffelbach, and Dave Dreiling, from GTM Sportwear Inc. in Manhattan, will offer their insights into strategic positioning of design and business.
Their keynote address will be at 9:30 a.m. in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union. It is free and open to the public.
A special feature of the daylong symposium will be a gallery of student work on display on the first floor of Justin Hall. During afternoon panel sessions, students will interact with the professionals and alumni attending the annual event.
Heinz, president and CEO of Staffelbach, will discuss the emerging picture of client-based businesses and the level of sophistication essential for successful connections of clients, projects, design thinking and profits. She has been awarded Women in Business Industry Leader by the Dallas Business Journal and the Entrepreneur Award from Kansas State University's College of Human Ecology. She graduated from the college's interior design program and served as the college's alumni fellow.
Dreiling will present his perspective on the dynamics of growing a successful business while operating within a globalized supply chain. By highlighting GTM's newest UltraFuse technology, Dreiling will discuss strategies for maintaining an advantage in a competitive economy.
His business started as It's Greek to Me, which sold sportswear to fraternities and sororities, to a company that employs more than 900 team members and sells products throughout the United States. Since 1989, GTM Sportswear has outfitted 1.1 million teams in customized sportswear for cheer, dance, athletic teams and other related markets. He has stores in Manhattan and Lawrence, Kan., and in Omaha, Neb.
Dreiling has received numerous awards, including Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year for the Central Midwest Region and Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce's Lud Fiser Citizen of the Year Award. He has a degree in marketing from Kansas State University.
