In a commercial landscape defined by rapid change, how do successful organizations stay ahead? The 2026 Guilford College Business Summit operates on the premise that institutions navigate uncertainty most effectively through collaboration, innovation, and shared investment in partnerships.

Join us for a morning of critical dialogue. Networking reception begins at 8:00 a.m. | Program commences at 8:30 a.m.

This year’s summit focuses on deep organizational resiliency. We have convened a diverse panel of executives from the manufacturing, technology, and government sectors to discuss how they manage business uncertainties within their respective industries. Our speakers will explore resiliency measures and how uncertainty impacts the overall organization, offering strategies for sustaining growth despite external pressures.

The Speaker Lineup

We are honored to open the event with a welcoming address by the Honorable Marikay Abuzuaiter, Mayor of Greensboro.

Distinguished Panelists:

• Mary Elizabeth Wilson – Chief of Staff & General Counsel, N.C. Department of Commerce
• Brian D. Moore – Executive Vice President & President, Unifi Manufacturing
• Daren Barnes – Strategic Procurement Manager, Cone Denim LLC
• Anna Axelsson – VP, Head of Battery Industrialization & Logistics, Volvo Energy North America
• Eric Ellis – Higher Education Strategist, Lenovo

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Special Guest: Anthony Clarke, President of Guilford Technical Community College.

In Strategic Partnership With EPIIC-SPARK. This year’s summit is proud to align with EPIIC-SPARK, a National Science Foundation-funded initiative at Guilford College. This initiative aims to foster regional economic innovation by building robust, enduring partnerships between the College, industry leaders, and government sectors. Grounded in principled and enduring frameworks, EPIIC-SPARK works to build the institutional capacity and infrastructure necessary to support broad-based cross-sector collaboration and applied scholarship. These goals sit at the heart of our summit's focus on organizational resiliency and shared investment in partnerships.

Our Sponsors

We extend our sincere gratitude to the following sponsors for their commitment to our students and the Triad business community:

Presenting Sponsor: 

• Hugh Normile '65 with the Normile Family Foundation 

• First National Bank
• The Center for Principled Problem Solving (CPPS) 

Visionary Sponsors

• Fred Taylor ’77, Trustee 
• David Bulluck ’77

The 2026 Business Summit is supported in part by the National Science Foundation EPIIC program through Guilford College's EPIIC-SPARK initiative. 

We look forward to welcoming you to campus.