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InnoVenture 2008 Announces Keynotes Kevin Skillern of GE Venture Capital And Solo Around The World Yachtsman Neal Peterson

Submitted by: John Warner on Mar 11, 2008 at 6:00 am Tagged with: Entrepreneur, Innovation Source: Swamp Fox

GREENVILLE, SC – InnoVenture 2008 will feature two keynote presentations by Kevin Skillern, Senior Vice President at GE Energy Financial Services, Venture Capital, and Neal Petersen, who over came significant barriers to race yachts solo around the world. InnoVenture 2008 will be held March 25 and 26, 2008, at the Carolina First Center in Greenville, SC. Neal will speak at lunch on March 25th, and Kevin will speak at lunch on March 26th.

Kevin Skillern leads GE’s venture capital team focused on the energy and water industries. This includes opportunities across the energy value chain, including renewables, power infrastructure and oil and gas technologies. The venture capital group at GE Energy Financial Services is one of the most active investors in energy technology markets, with a seven-person team with presence in San Francisco, Munich, Boston and Stamford, CT. Prior to joining GE, Mr. Skillern spent eight years working with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where he focused on strategy development and corporate finance issues for energy companies in the United States and Europe. Kevin holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Neal Petersen is an entrepreneur, award-winning author, solo around the world racing yachtsman, who will share a powerful and memorable message that "In life there are no barriers ~ only solutions!" Born in Cape Town, Neal grew up in the grip of apartheid, classified as “coloured.” Challenged by racism and born with a defective hip, Neal turned these barriers into doorways. In 1999, he completed the Around Alone, a 27,000-mile round-the-world sailing race, in his 40-foot home-built boat dubbed “the floating coffin.” Sailing through the swirling Southern Ocean and battling building-sized waves that often smothered the boat, he eventually beat some of the most experienced and well-funded solo racers in the world. Neal’s engaging autobiography, Journey of a Hope Merchant., won the National Book Award, and he has been rated the best speaker by IBM. More information about Neal can be found at www.no-barriers.com.

About GE Energy Financial Services
GE Energy Financial Services’ 350 experts invest globally with a long-term view, backed by the best of GE’s technical know-how and financial strength, across the capital spectrum and the energy and water industries, to help their customers and GE grow. With US $17 billion in assets, GE Energy Financial Services, based in Stamford, Connecticut, invests more than US $5 billion annually in two of the world’s most capital-intensive industries, energy and water. More information: www.geenergyfinancialservices.com.

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