UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA

"It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours."

~ Harry S. Truman
33 President of the United States 1945-1953
rd

PART II

Preston Williams III

Continued

UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA - PART II

TABOO Updates: Brief Legislative Chronology Recap: Income Disparity Critical Services for the Unemployed in America FLIP THE SCRIPT

THE NEW AMERICA: OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE!

WAKE UP & SMELL THE COFFEE ITS BURNING!

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF UNEMPLOYMENT

GOVERNMENT POLICIES: DO THEY WORK?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TABOO
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Most people avoid a conversation about this topic because it is quite sensitive. Next to losing a loved one or enduring a divorce, job loss is the next most devastating event in anyones life. In some societies like the United States it was considered taboo for many years until the recent depression. The current economic downturn is the worst that this nation has experienced since The Great Depression of the 1930s which began in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s.

Background:
I attempted to explain the basic conditions of Unemployment in the most powerful nation on the planet in UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA - Part I. This is a continuation of that previous conversation about what happens when someone loses their job in this country. Some of the information shared in that article has changed as a result of worsening economic conditions in the country. Since that original piece written on December 15, 2008, the US Congress has passed several House Bills to extend benefits to unemployed American workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

Updates Brief Legislative Chronology:

On January 28, 2009, Congressman Dave Obey (Democrat) introduced H.R. 1, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which included provisions for unemployment and signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 15, 2009. On July 31, 2009, Congressman James McDermot (Democrat) sponsored H.R. 3404 Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009 to amend the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act and the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to provide for the temporary extension of certain unemployment benefits and the temporary availability of further additional unemployment compensation. S. 1647 Assistance for Unemployed Workers Extension Act was introduced on August 7, 2009 and sponsored by Senator John Reed (Democrat). S. 1699 Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009 was introduced on September 23, 2009 and sponsored by Senator John Reed (Democrat). H.R. 3756 Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009 was introduced on October 7, sponsored by Congressman Peter Welch (Democrat). H.R. 3548 Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 was introduced on November 6, 2009, sponsored by Congressman James
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McDermot (Democrat).

H.R. 4183 Helping Unemployed Workers Act was introduced on December 2, 2009, sponsored by Congressman James McDermot (Democrat). S.2831 Helping Unemployed Workers Act was introduced on December 3, 2009, sponsored by Senator John Reed (Democrat). H.R. 4691 Temporary Extension Act of 2010 was introduced on February 5, 2010 sponsored by Congressman Charles Rangel (Democrat). H.R. 4213 Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010 was introduced on December 7, 2010 sponsored by Congressman Charles Rangel (Democrat). On December 16, 2010, the U.S. Congress passed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. Source: www.opencongress.org These are just a few of the many phases of political discourse that have taken place regarding the plight of the unemployed in the United States between 2009 and 2010. While the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 extends the provision of unemployment benefits to recipients, it does not address the income disparity discussed in Unemployment in America Part I.

Recap: Income Disparity

Q. How does the US Department of Labor calculate unemployment? A. Every individual who applies for unemployment at any State Unemployment Office is captured in the departments system. All of the former employees details are inputted into the departments database. Q. How is unemployment eligibility determined? A. An individual is usually eligible for unemployment due to a layoff. Any individual losing their job due to resignation or dismissal for cause is NOT eligible for unemployment.

Q. How is unemployment insurance payment calculated?

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A. It varies from one state to another. Average estimated bi-weekly is approximately $320.00 resulting in a total monthly payment of approximately $640.00. Note: This information was based on the applicable rate for the state of North Carolina in 2002.

Critical services for the unemployed in America.

Some individuals are eligible for COBRA Insurance after losing their jobs. However, this critical health benefit is usually too expensive for an individual payor outside of a large corporate pool and is often shunned by people trying to pay for transportation and housing as well as keeping food on the table. It is hard to believe that several of these Congress men & women, many of whom are career politicians, can be so harsh and uncaring about the people who voted them into office. It is mind boggling when you consider that their livelihoods and lifestyles are being provided for and subsidized by the taxpayers. Many of their constituents have been affected by this economic malaise and yet these politicians callously toss aside their mission to represent their electorate but rather focus on a personal mandate to do the best for their political careers. As I listened intently and watched recent discussions on the US Congress House Floor about this issue, I observed several politicians argue vehemently against providing this much needed safety net to those adversely affected by the Depression. I could not help but wonder if these elected officials were from another planet. Then I remembered a famous quote: "Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few." ~ George Bernard Shaw Most people who venture into politics today are no longer cut from the same cloth as the likes of President Abraham Lincoln of the United States, President Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, or President John F. Kennedy of the United States of America. These people were servants of the people who elected them to office. Their public policies reflected a commitment to deliver on the mandate of the electorate which ushered them into office. They were always

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transparent about their convictions and willing to fight for the issues that The People felt were important to their success and development. We saw this attitude at work during the administration of President William Jefferson Clinton and we are beginning to see similar trends during the Presidency of President Barack Obama. In some nations it has become adequately clear that when people have full bellies and adequate living conditions, including the opportunity to earn an honest living, political ramblings are generally minimal. Many Third World countries including Liberia, Nigeria & Rwanda have learned this tough lesson through strife. When people are content with the general circumstances of their lives, they are able to direct their energies to other more positive activities. They dream big and anticipate what new products or services would make their lives more meaningful or comfortable.

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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA - PART II Flip the Script

I wonder what would happen if The People had power in a True Democracy. Would these individuals elected to represent them rise up to block these funds from being appropriated for the struggling masses? What would happen if they too were being subjected to the same conditions of the American people? Would they carry on the same way? Hypothetical Scenarios:

ALL State & Federal employees salaries should be reviewed and adjusted to reflect their performance. Since the US economy is underperforming and the true unemployment average is closer to 20% than 10%, elected officials remuneration should be adjusted downward. This will reflect their inability to pass proper legislation to maintain a viable and resilient economy.

Lawmakers should be required to provide FULL DISCLOSURE of ALL ASSETS. This information should be made available to the proper Government Agencies charged with making Fiscal & Budget Appropriations for the US Economy.

In keeping with the Freedom of Information Act, said information should be made readily available on a US Government web site and constantly updated to reflect any changes in their status. As a temporary measure and a show of solidarity with their loyal constituents, lawmakers who do NOT support the US Government providing benefits to unemployed workers should forfeit their salaries and benefits. Said funds should be directed to government agencies / programs responsible for providing emergency resources and services (healthcare, housing, child care, transportation, food subsidy, etc) to the unemployed. It would be interesting to see how they like them apples.

In keeping with the observation of President Harry S. Truman, these lawmakers will be forced to see the current economic crisis for what it is a DEPRESSION! When these individuals are forced to make the same kinds of sacrifices as the people they represent, perhaps they will be more willing to advocate for and support the kinds of legislation that will restore America to its previous esteemed place in history - a beacon to the world. A place where anyone with the right attitude and a willingness to work hard can succeed and achieve their dreams! Right now the American Dream has become a Nightmare. Too many Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure, their cars are being re-possessed and they
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are losing their lives to once curable illnesses - all because they lost their livelihood. The American psyche is ingrained in the belief that there is dignity in labor. For many Americans, a job is more than a source of income. It is who we are. Many of us are what we do. So it is with great disappointment that I watched a Do-Nothing Congress whittle away at every piece of legislation that would at least give people a sense of dignity through their continued ability to provide basic human requirements for themselves and their families. How many of these legislators would balk at programs that provide medical care for families with special needs children where both parents have lost their jobs, especially if it affected their families? The situation is dire because today there are Two Americas The Haves and The Rest of Us. Those who have, continue to get more because they can buy a seat at the table, while those who cannot buy a seat have NO voice. It is amazing how these politicians play with peoples lives without impunity. Their actions have decimated the once great American Middle Class and nobody seems to care. It is funny how the great United States of America over the last decade has become very much like many of the Banana Republics which have been fodder for ridicule in American political circles for decades.

"When we look back 10 years from now, we will see 2008 as a fundamental financial rupture." - Peer (Peter) Steinbruck German Finance Minister 2005-2009

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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA - PART II The New America: Open Your Eyes and See!
The New America which emerged in the last decade now demands that you pay to play and the game has gotten even more expensive. The creation and passage of the Stimulus bills was done to avoid a potential apocalypse which had been engineered by cunning, greedy business executives whose only motive was their compensation packages. The collapse of financial giant, Lehman Brothers and several other conglomerates is evidence of greed on steroids. However, they are not the only ones to be blamed for this very unfortunate development. They got a significant amount of help and support from the lobbyists that represent their interests and the government officials who passed the kinds of legislation that made their diabolical plans a reality. In the first decade of this new Millennium, legislation was introduced and passed which removed many of the protections previously deemed necessary to contain the exploits of overzealous business representatives. Some of these corporate leaders were driven by their conviction to earn big paychecks and ever increasing bonus packages by leveraging whatever tools were available to achieve their objectives. They did so with relentless aggression, sometimes regardless of the potential long-term consequences of their actions. The market rewards extreme risk takers every time their companies stocks go up. That is the way the system is setup. The more you sell, the higher your compensation for pursuing such ventures. The greater the risk, the greater the reward! However, several politicians without the proper business acumen and in some cases without a clear understanding of the full impact of their actions, willingly passed legislation that allowed astute corporate interests to change the American economic landscape. These politicians sold out to lobbyists, some of whom did not have a full grasp of the long-term implications of the outcomes that some of these relaxed rules would have on the domestic or international market place. It would be quite interesting to determine how many legislators fully understood the nature of mortgage-backed securities or the transactional risk associated with each derivative before the special hearings conducted after the fall of Lehman Brothers. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008. Till this day, many of them do not understand the nature of these financial instruments and could potentially vote to support the re-introduction of similar tools if the language used by large businesses was complicated enough to lure them into a false sense of tranquility.

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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA - PART II

The very short-sighted and somewhat limited view of some American politicians does not allow them to see The Big Picture. They do not understand the complexities of multi-national corporations and could not fathom the full impact of their actions on the domestic US economy. Corporations are for-profit entities driven by the incentive to generate as much profit as the market will bear. Investors and Boards of Directors are almost always only concerned about the bottom line. That is Capitalism at its best. However, even the greatest corporations in the world have come to understand the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and are developing Corporate Governance policies that will allow them to be better global citizens. Some companies like Halliburton are able to bill tens of billions of dollars for contracts with US military operations in the Middle East. Yet legislators remain unperturbed when the company reportedly could not account for over $3 Billion dollars for which it had been paid. No prosecutions have been reported despite the fact that the company has been paid large sums without substantiated invoices. Source: Suit Charges Halliburton with Accounting Fraud Several of the failing financial institutions which received federal funding to remain viable have refused to release those funds into the economy. Instead they continue to sit on this money while small businesses which have been the bedrock for creating jobs in this country go under. Without the much needed cash that allows them to buy hardware, software and hire the kinds of employees that empower them to be competitive in an ever expanding global market place, these businesses have had to layoff employees to stay alive while others have been forced to file for bankruptcy or forever shut their doors. Even with well-laid recovery plans, several of these organizations have not been able to emerge from bankruptcy. The United States Small Business Administration (SBA - SBIR/STIR) is striving to create financing alliances for struggling start-ups and other small businesses, while many of the cash rich financial institutions who are recipients of Federal Assistance are unwilling to stimulate the economy by lending to seasoned entrepreneurs with established backgrounds / experience. Based on the much more stringent and sometimes unrealistic financing requirements put in place following the economic downturn, several companies are no longer eligible for Letters of Credit or Letters of Guarantee. Capital is the lifeblood of any business undertaking and without it, every business eventually fails.

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Several of these companies are being forced to investigate new financing options besides traditional banks & Venture Capital. It is critical to their survival that they are given access to much needed capital in order to hire skilled Americans looking for work. Source: Entrepreneurs Unite! : By Preston Williams III Even landmark American businesses have fallen victim to the rolling assault of the depression. Did these politicians understand the multiplier effect that these changes in legislation would have on US companies with foreign interests? Did they consider the ripple effect for sitting supinely while coveted American jobs were outsourced to much cheaper labor markets at the cost of perhaps a penny on the dollar? A new phenomenon like the Wikileaks debacle is being treated as a violation of military secrets. Whatever happened when computer manufacturing in the USA which included many of the proprietary secrets contained in patents (including high level cipher codes) were sold to a Chinese company? NOTHING! The business was deemed to be underperforming since the cost of its operations in the domestic market was disproportional to the revenue generated from unit sales. All of the so-called business secrets associated with the production of these computers is now the proud possession of a formidable Chinese enterprise. Legislative roll backs have their place in our society. Nonetheless they should be carried out with the utmost care and caution with a long term view of our future. What may be politically expedient in the current circumstances may prove to be horrendously devastating in a few decades. Many big businesses were encouraged to violate ethical codes to make a buck. After all if you were fined $3 million for bribing corrupt government officials in Third World counties and those bribes allowed you to make $ 300 million in profits, where is the incentive to desist from such behavior? In fact a savvy Chief Financial Officer (CFO) would be wise to convince both the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the governing Board that it would be in their best interest to create an operating reserve account to pay such fines whenever they arise considering the high profit margin attained as a consequence of this practice. Every action has a consequence. Those who have played by the rules have been devoured by those who trump the rules whenever they choose. How can you argue indifference when companies like Bechtel & Halliburton are awarded No Bid Contracts? WHY? How can these politicians who are supposed to be the gatekeepers of American interests sit in silence while these activities are going on? Where were they when the American people needed
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them the most? They were out playing golf with cronies filling their Political Action Committees (PACs) coffers with large sums of unreported campaign contributions. If this has not been open season for corruption, I do not wish to see what it would look like when the season is officially declared OPEN. Third World despots like the late Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire will appear like sand lot bullies. "The economy is in shambles! - Warren Buffet Billionaire Investor Mar. 3, 2009 Ignorance or apathy, the results are the same. The United States of America is a country in crisis!

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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA - PART II Wake Up & Smell The Coffee - Its Burning!

Lets look at a few very likely scenarios playing out in neighborhoods all over America. The devastation that takes place in a mining town in West Virginia when the company closes affects EVERYBODY! Restaurants that once catered to miners and their families no longer have any customers because the unemployed cannot afford to patronize their establishments. With lost incomes, the struggling families can no longer seek the medical attention they need and hospitals lose patients. Some are forced to close their doors. The local theater shuts down because families are constrained to stay at home and watch TV because they cant afford movie tickets or the popcorn, soda and milk duds that are part of the theater experience. Grocery stores see fewer customers and many items remain on store shelves well past their expiration date. Suppliers of perishable goods experience stagnation in orders because the stores cannot move their current stock fast enough. Farmers affected by this shortfall have to consider converting milk cows to beef producers because they can no longer afford to buy feed for dairy cows. Layers are slaughtered en mass because farmers can no longer afford to buy feed for chickens when they lose a significant portion of their egg business.

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People travel less and taxes on gasoline and luxury goods become almost nonexistent. Schools are forced to shut down because they cannot generate municipal bonds to pay for the upkeep of their buildings. Teachers are let go because the state budget has been devastated by the inadequacy of revenue generated from sales & property taxes. As more people lose their homes to foreclosure, the local and subsequently the national coffers are bankrupted by the disappearance of much needed property taxes once generated from those homes. Many of these foreclosed properties are abandoned and homes remain unoccupied. Despite local ordinances, very limited municipal funds can no longer pay for the upkeep of the neighborhood. They fall into disrepair and property values plunge. Crime permeates once beautiful developments with manicured lawns now crime infested dumps for drug addicts and criminals. Automobile sales drop exponentially because people can barely pay their current car-notes and are definitely avoiding any new cost to their already stretched budgets. Some dealerships are forced to file for bankruptcy. Automobile parts suppliers who depended on those dealerships are unable to stay in business. They too are forced to close up shop. Sales taxes from those operations disappear. When people are no longer able to provide for themselves and their families, whole neighborhoods become ghost towns. Able bodied men and women relocate in search of new jobs. Once thriving communities, become a thing of the past as Mother Nature moves in to reclaim the land. This is the ghastly but true picture of unemployment. It is an old story with new twists depending on the country and the people. Whether they are rural communities or suburban sprawls, this depression is affecting most Americans. Urban blight is rampant in many once vibrant uptown neighborhoods. Whole cities are being run over and some like Detroit, Michigan are being shrunk to a more manageable size for the poverty stricken and destitute residents. City government can no longer afford Emergency Medical care and people die by the thousands. Without proper maintenance, buildings begin to fall apart and become jungles. Pot holes become part of the driving experience. Cars get damaged from these bad roads, but who can you talk to? The insurance companies wont even listen because your policy does not cover damage as a result of broken roads. Doctors see their patient loads drop off significantly and their incomes become shadows of a distant memory. They pack up and take their knowledge, skills and expertise to communities that can afford to pay them a decent salary. After all they still owe large amounts in student loans.

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Families with sturdy roots in old communities are being forced to uproot in order to make a living anywhere a living can be made. People once worth millions of dollars are now fighting to get jobs with negative net worths being scored by any of the major Credit Bureaus. Several people are finding out that they no longer qualify for jobs that they are very capable of performing because they have negative items in their credit reports. Makes you wonder if the Credit Score is expected to do the job instead of the individual applying for the position. This is another contributing factor for the delay in turning the economy around. It has become a vicious circle. Why isnt the US Congress looking at this issue? This is The New America!!!

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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA - PART II The Psychology of Unemployment

Beyond the damage to infrastructure is the psychological devastation suffered by the unemployed. Once deemed knowledgeable and solid citizens of their communities, the unemployed quickly become meaningless faces. They no longer have the big bank accounts which perhaps meant an offer of a free cup of coffee and a polite discussion about the weather. Now they are no longer worth the time of Bank employees who are trained to equate your worth to the size of your bank account. People are constrained to question their self-worth. For some, DEPRESSION becomes a personal state of mind. With the loss of mental acuity, general health suffers and once active professionals become sedentary couch potatoes because they cannot afford to work out at the neighborhood gym. They spend many long and lonely hours staring at unfriendly computer screens in an endless search for the next job to regain some sense of self-respect and dignity. Some lose their grip on reality and succumb to drugs or alcohol to numb the pain and fill the gap of nothingness. Since many of us define ourselves by our jobs, without a job we literally become nothing. Our lives once filled with the laughter of friends, family and loved ones is now eerily quiet. The silence is so overwhelming every new thought rings loudly like an alarm going off at midnight. Once very engaging, colleagues no longer call for fear that your unemployment is contagious and might affect their ability to keep their jobs. The longer you stay unemployed, once guarded savings disappear and 401K plans become emergency funds for Doctors visits and food. Children of distraught and desperate parents become potential victims of neglect and/or violence. Parents lash out at their children because they have no other outlets for their stress and disappointment. Some turn to a life of crime. As money becomes scarce, the thought of an early death becomes a constant companion and faith finds itself at a cross-roads. Even the prospect of death is uncomfortable because there is the question of the real estate for your final exit cemetery plots have gotten more expensive over the years.

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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA - PART II

And yet, even for those who are barely holding on by the thinnest thread of Hope the light at the end of the tunnel seems dim at best. For others, the big neon sign reads: The Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off due to Budet Cuts. I wonder how many of these Legislators would hold on to their so called PRINCIPLES if this were their lot. Would they carry on the same way if they were forced to see LIFE through the eyes of the destitute millions of Americans who once lived to espouse the American Dream and are now the victims of a system primed to destroy them? The American Dream has become an American Nightmare! GOVERNMENT POLICIES: Do they work? Every government uses the tools at its disposal to provide for the well being of its inhabitants and citizenry. For quite some time, fiscal & monetary policies have been used in a mix to maintain, grow or resuscitate a struggling and sluggish economy. In the best of times, those macroeconomic policies are carefully crafted to ensure that the benefits far outweigh the pitfalls. Sound planning involves bringing all players considered critical to the health of the national economy to engage in this workout. These representatives come from various aspects of the socio-political and international community. In this new era of self-aggrandizement at all costs, we are witnessing a quality of greed unforeseen in American history. The few wealthy like ex-Tyco CEO, Dennis Kozlowski and Bernard Madoff are just too willing to sacrifice the many poor in their pursuit to amass great wealth. We are witnessing the kind of greed reminiscent of Rome before its fall. Many of these stories are captured in the TV series: American Greed. So what is the American government to do as it strives to find a way out of this quandary? Like many other governments around the world, state agencies like the Federal Reserve Bank have to work closely with the Departments of Treasury, Labor, Justice & Social Services among others. The roundtable discussion should include people from ALL walks of life, especially those who have lost their jobs & careers during this deep depression. "In all my years monitoring the economy I've never seen anything as frightening as this." - Martin Feldstein Economics Professor Harvard University

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Government by the people and for the people has become an American Myth. The new administration definitely has its work cut out because saving the American economy is tantamount to saving the world economy.

Coming soon
Unemployment in America - Part III
We will explore the fallout in the aftermath of the recession:

Beefing up the Human Resource (HR) Database Data mining: What happens when you apply to a position on a job board? What does it mean to be under/over qualified for a position? The real statistics of unemployment: Race, Gender, Education, Ethnicity. New code words for The dangers of outsourcing US employment to Third World countries Identity Theft the new nightmare on Elm Street Biometrics tackling the new age of cyber crime. Fixing our economy Are we there yet?

-Submitted By:

Preston Williams III

B.Sc. M.Sc. CPA CIS

Founder | Senior Partner & CIO GBC Global Services Information Technology Solutions Internet: http://www.gbc-inc.net Date: January 24, 2011
PrestonW

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Preston Williams III is Senior Partner & Chief Information Officer (CIO) at GBC Global Services. He is a pioneer and futurist with 20+ years of Big 4, Fortune 500, Global 100 and entrepreneurial experience. That experience includes Senior Auditor with Price Waterhouse (PriceWaterhouseCoopers), Controller for Lynn-Phill, IT Consultant with McGladrey & Pullen and Andersen Consulting (Accenture) as well as Project Executive at IBM Global Services. Mr. Williams also worked as the first Product Manager for Global Data Collection with Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and the first Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Langston University. From 2002 to 2004, Preston Williams served as the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Managing Partner at GBC. Incorporated in Delaware, USA; the firm operates in Liberia, Kenya, Uganda and the United States. Preston has successfully implemented sound, reliable, dynamic, scalable and robust IT systems integration and financial management solutions in North America, Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Mr. Williams is a member of the American Business Network (ABN), former Technology Committee Chairman of the Oklahoma State Council on Information Technology (CoIT) and a former member of the Innovative Technology Advisory Council of Oklahoma (InnoTech). He is a member of the EDUCAUSE CIO Constituent Group, the Carolina Information Technology Professionals Group (CITPG) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Enterprise Forum of Cambridge. Preston is also a member of the International Entrepreneurs Club, the International Technology Channels Association (ITCA), Tech Republic and the Global CIO Think Tank. Mr. Williams is DUNSRight certified with Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and an IBM Signature Selling Methodology (SSM) certified professional. Preston holds a B. Sc. Degree in Economics from Cuttington University College and a M. Sc. in Regional Planning with a Specialization in Regional Resource Allocation & System Dynamics from the University of Liberia. He studied Auditing at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and holds a CPA from the Liberian Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Preston has a CIS from Great Plains Software in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. He also studied Comprehensive General Management at the Executive Education Program of the Harvard Business School at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Preston Williams III is Chairman of the GBC Board of Directors, an Associate Member of ExecuNet, recipient of the IBM Global Services Leadership Award, Published Author and a Moderator of the Internet Evolution Executive Clan.

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