2015 Futures Retreat

Dr. Edmond Seifried is currently Executive Consultant and Chief Economist of the Sheshunoff Affiliation Programs and Professor Emeritus of Economics and Business at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Ed also serves as the dean of the Virginia and West Virginia Banking Schools and has served on the faculty of numerous banking schools including the Graduate School of Retail Bank Management.

Ed frequently appears as a guest speaker at regional and national conferences and has delivered over 2000 presentations to various groups both in the United States and abroad. He is a consultant to the banking industry and is well known as a speaker at bank customer events and as a strategic planner. He is the author of the book “The Art of Strategic Planning for Community Banks.” In addition to his academic and consulting experience, he has also served as a director of a community bank.

Ed has traveled extensively in the former Soviet Bloc countries where he served as an advisor and consultant to the newly privatized commercial banks.

Ed received his doctorate in economics and business from West Virginia University.

Paul X. Rinn is an accomplished Naval Leader and successful businessman. His career in the Navy spanned almost three decades and encompassed challenging positions in a multitude of key operational assignments and combat encounters as well as significant Pentagon postings.

A Surface Warfare Officer, his professional path took him from the rivers of Southeast Asia to the command of the U.S. Navy’s most sophisticated ships: the Guided Missile Frigate Samuel B Roberts FFG 58 (the heroic story of which is required reading at the US Naval Academy, Naval War College and Surface Warfare Officers School) and the AEGIS Cruiser Leyte Gulf CG 55 (selected as the “Top AEGIS Cruiser” in the Atlantic Fleet during Paul Rinn’s Command).

Captain Rinn was the recipient of the United States Congress’s 1989 National Day of Excellence Award, the 1989 Stephen Decatur Award for Operational Excellence and the 1995 U.S. Navy League John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational Leadership.

Ashore he served as Executive Assistant to the Head of the Surface Navy and later as Special Assistant to two Chiefs of Naval Operations.

In 2008 Paul Rinn was Inducted into the Surface Navy Hall of Fame.

He was awarded five Legion of Merit Awards (one with Combat V), Purple Heart, four Meritorious Service Awards, Combat Action Ribbon with bronze star and other personal and unit commendations.

In 1998 Capt. Paul Rinn retired from the United States Navy and joined the international consulting firm of Whitney Bradley and Brown. He advanced steadily through the company ranks and was an integral part of the company’s growth from a five million dollar organization to a 95 million dollar company in ten years. In 2001 he was promoted to Vice President and placed in charge of International and Domestic Naval business development tripling that business by 2004. In 2005 he took over leadership of the company’s largest sector, Management Consulting, doubling both the sector’s productivity and profit margins over the ensuing four years. In 2010 Paul Rinn became the head of all Commercial business development again doubling WBB’s market share while maintaining a profit margin of over 20%.

He retired on Dec 31, 2011 and is now pursuing a book writing and public speaking career.