Donald Parfet is next in Keystone lecture series
Jan. 23, 2004
KALAMAZOO--Donald Parfet, managing director of the Apjohn Group, a newly formed business accelerator firm based in Kalamazoo, will be the guest speaker Friday, Jan. 30, at Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business.
Parfet will speak as part of the ongoing Keystone Community Bank Breakfast Series, sponsored by the Kalamazoo-based bank. Now in its third year, the series offers community members, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and WMU faculty and alumni an opportunity to discuss important business issues.
The free presentation begins at 7:30 a.m. in Room 2150 of WMU's Schneider Hall, and parking is available in the adjacent Fetzer Center lot. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the Haworth College of Business at (269) 387-5050.
This year's breakfast meetings have examined local business success. Since the current series was launched in the fall of 2003, leaders from around West Michigan have discussed the triumphs and challenges of succeeding in this area as well as their strategies for prospering in a tough economy.
Parfet will present "Apjohn Group: An Overview," as he discusses the firm's focus on early stage life sciences opportunities. From drugs, medical devices and diagnostics to genomic tools and bioinformatics, Apjohn works to identify and commercialize innovative life sciences technologies through creative partnerships.
Prior to founding the Apjohn Group, Parfet was a senior vice president at Pharmacia Corp., where his responsibilities included the firm's associated businesses--Animal Health Products, Diagnostics, Pharmaceutical Commercial Services and Plasma Products--as well as overseeing the company's investments in Amersham Pharmacia Biotech and Biacore International AB. He also had overall site management responsibilities for the company's local operations.
Parfet earned a degree in economics from the University of Arizona in 1975 and an MBA in finance from the University of Michigan in 1977. He is a trustee of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a trustee and the past chair of the board of Bronson Healthcare Group, chair of the board of the Kalamazoo College Board of Trustees and a board member of Biacore International AB.
Media contact: Gail Towns, 269 387-8400, gail.towns@wmich.edu