Voorhees Supply Chain Conference

Voorhees-Conference

Join us October 10!

Learn from industry leaders and network with other supply chain professionals as we talk about managing teams in supply chains.

Managing teams in supply chains

Voorhees-ConferenceJoin us in Ames for the 31st annual Voorhees Supply Chain Conference! The Voorhees Conference is designed for professionals involved in planning, sourcing, manufacturing, and delivering products.

Featured speakers include:

  • Jeannie Frana, Global Process Owner and Global Transportation Process, Data, and Technology Leader at Cargill
  • Kevin Dresser, Head Wrestling Coach, Iowa State University
  • Coralie Voss, Vice President of Creative Solutions, Grain Processing Corporation

The event also includes quick research updates from Iowa State’s internationally recognized supply chain management faculty.

Bring your team and take advantage of special group pricing for teams of three or more!

  • “Mission Possible: Activating a Global Team”

    Jeannie Frana

    Jeannie Frana is the global process owner for the deliver process and the process, data, and technology leader for Cargill Transportation and Logistics. She manages a global team of more than 45 professionals, including process managers, technology deployment professionals, and a team of data scientists. Cargill’s global transportation team members utilize their processes, data, and technology to serve their businesses and customers, executing 8,000 shipments daily.

    Frana has held a variety of transportation management roles over the course of her 34-year career at Cargill. In 2012, she transferred to Cargill’s global IT department, working as a process advisor for their SAP implementation project. In this role, she designed the processes for Cargill’s transportation activities globally and determined how these processes were enabled by technology.

    Frana is a member of the Cargill Transportation and Logistics leadership team and Cargill’s process, data, and technology leadership team. In addition, she is a member of the National Industrial Transportation League, as well as a number of industry advisory boards. Frana earned a bachelor’s degree in transportation and logistics from Iowa State University, where she serves on the Supply Chain Management Executive Advisory Council.

  • “Dare to be Great: Managing Individual Heroes Within a Strong Team”

    Kevin DresserKevin Dresser is in his eighth season as the head coach of Iowa State wrestling. He has rejuvenated the once-legendary program and brought Cyclone wrestling back to national prominence.

    Coach Dresser inherited a team ranked 57th in the nation when he arrived at Iowa State in 2017. This year, the team finished fourth in the nation at the NCAA Division I Championship Tournament. The Iowa State squad also won the Big 12 Conference Championship this year – the first time in Coach Dresser’s tenure in Ames. Dresser was named Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2024.

    Coach Dresser is known for his recruiting ingenuity, his relentless pursuit of excellence on the mat, and his ability to appeal to and attract fans and supporters to the program. The team averaged 6,690 fans per dual meet in Hilton during the 2023-24 season – its highest average home attendance in the Big 12 era.

    Before coming to Iowa State, Coach Dresser led the Virginia Tech Hokies for more than a decade. An Iowa native, he was a standout wrestler at Humboldt High School and the University of Iowa, where he won a NCAA Championship title in 1986.

  • “From Silos to Synchronization: Fostering Teamwork in Supply Chain”

    Coralie VossCoralie Voss is the vice president of creative solutions at Grain Processing Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KENT Corporation, headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa.

    Voss was previously the vice president of supply chain management for KENT Corporation, an award-winning, privately-held family business with operating subsidiaries involved in corn wet milling, the production of animal nutrition, and the manufacture of high-quality food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and pet products.

    Recognized for her expertise in leadership and business change, Voss earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business.

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Conference agenda

TimeActivity
9:00 amCheck-in and continental breakfast
10:00 amWelcome from Peter Ralston, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management
and Director of the Supply Chain Forum
Iowa State University Ivy College of Business
10:15 am“Mission Possible: Activating a Global Team”
Jeannie Frana, Global Process Owner and Global Transportation Process, Data, and Technology Leader at Cargill
11:15 amBreak
11:30 am“Dare to be Great: Managing Individual Heroes Within a Strong Team”
Kevin Dresser, Head Wrestling Coach, Iowa State University
12:30 pmLunch and networking
1:30 pmSupply Chain Research PechaKucha (“Chit-Chat”)
A series of six-minute talks by Ivy faculty about their current research.
2:30 pmBreak
2:45 pm“From Silos to Synchronization: Fostering Teamwork in Supply Chain”
Coralie Voss, VP of Creative Solutions, Grain Processing Corporation
3:45 pmClosing remarks from Haozhe Chen, Walker Professor in Logistics and Supply Chain Management 
Chair of the Department of Supply Chain Management
Iowa State University Ivy College of Business
4:00 pmNetworking reception

Registration

  • This event is open to the public. Single tickets are $150.
  • Take advantage of special group pricing! Get $20 off each ticket when you register three or more people at the same time.
  • Registration fee includes continental breakfast, lunch, and a networking reception.
  • Registration closes October 2, 2024.

Continuing professional education

Up to four credits of continuing professional education (CPE) are available for Iowa licensed accountants and supply chain professionals in organizations such as ASCM (APICS) and ISM. CPE credits from the conference are accepted by the Iowa Accountancy Examining Board. Out-of-state participants should check with their state board of accountancy to determine eligibility.

About the Voorhees Conference

The Voorhees Supply Chain Conference was established by alumni and friends of Iowa State University to honor the career of Professor Emeritus R. Dale Voorhees and to provide industry leaders a premier conference in their field. Voorhees passed away on May 24, 2009.

Professor Voorhees was an Iowa State University teacher and researcher for 20 years. As a teacher, Voorhees displayed an uncommon talent for integrating theory with practice. Industry practitioners were frequent visitors to his class, sharing their experience, knowledge, and insight with his students.

The Voorhees Supply Chain Conference began as a supply chain executive-in-residence program, with distinguished leaders in the supply chain field visiting the Ivy College of Business to interact with students and faculty and make a presentation to the university community. For its 10th anniversary in 2002, the program was expanded to a full-day conference. This format continues today in its 31st year.

Conference sponsors

The 2024 Voorhees Supply Chain Conference is made possible thanks to the generous support of:

Connect with us

Haozhe Chen

Department Chair
Walker Professor in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
hzchen@iastate.edu

Suzanne Lyndon

Event Planner
slyndon@iastate.edu
515-294-1504

Peter Ralston

Director of the Supply Chain Forum
Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management
pralston@iastate.edu