Conservative Union leader to speak in Kalispell

The Daily Inter Lake

A nationally known proponent of conservative business principles is the keynote speaker for the Flathead Business and Industry Association's annual meeting Tuesday.

David A. Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, will discuss what can be done locally to protect Flathead Valley and Montana businesses and jobs.

The luncheon meeting starts at noon in the Red Lion Hotel Kalispell. The public is invited.

With the economy in recession and a local unemployment rate of 12.7 percent, up from 3.5 percent just last fall, local businesses and job-seekers are scrambling to figure out what can be done to keep local businesses strong and viable.

"David Keene is a fellow Montanan and a Washington expert on political and grass-roots efforts," Bigfork resident Gen. Paul Vallely (Ret.) said. "He knows and understands economics and business, what is happening in our country and what needs to be done now to restore our economy."

Flathead Business and Industry Association President Don Dulle said the association is dedicated to protecting the local economy from overly burdensome public policy and encouraging rather than hindering business growth. Dulle is convinced Keene has answers for local action.

Both Haley Beaudry of Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. and Steven Thompson of Semitool Inc. back Keene, too.

Last summer CFAC was one of the first to announce layoffs. Beaudry, CFAC manager of external affairs, said business owners must understand how much they can do at the local, state and regional levels to ward off heavy-handed policies and regulation and create a pro-business environment.

More recently, Semitool employees have faced layoffs. Thompson, Semitool's project manager, argued that the government should give businesses tools to succeed, not "prevent our ability to be profitable," which he said recent local decisions have done.

Since December 1984 Keene has headed the American Conservative Union, touted as the nation's oldest and largest grass-roots conservative organization.

Keene attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he was National Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom. He's also been a First Amendment Fellow at Vanderbilt University's Freedom Forum, served on the Board of Visitors at Duke University's Public Policy School and sat on the National Rifle Association's board of directors.

Keene is regularly featured on radio, television and print media. He has written for National Review, the Washington Times and the Boston Globe, and is a columnist for The Hill, a newspaper covering Congress.

Denise Smith, FBIA executive director, said the annual meeting usually draws up to 100 people but this year's timely topic is bound to bring a larger crowd. Flathead Business and Industry Association members pay $20 and nonmembers pay $25. Tables for eight are available.

Make reservations by noon Monday by calling Smith at 752-8681. Registrations also will be taken at the door as space permits.