WASHINGTON - The NPCA's 2003 Annual Meeting will feature forum sessions on global alliances for small and medium-size companies, market trends, the challenges of rising energy and raw-material costs, and the latest edition of the NPCA's "U.S. Paint & Coatings Market Analysis," the association announced.

The NPCA also said Amanda Gore, an expert on communications, group dynamics and teamwork, will address the Annual Meeting's final general session. The association also issued details on the Guest Program for the Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for Oct. 8-10 in Orlando, FL. Former U.S. Sen. John Kasich will be the meeting's keynote speaker.

The Annual Meeting's forum sessions will get under way on Oct. 9 with the Owner/Manager Breakfast Forum Session, where Peter Rieck of Sonneborn & Rieck and Charles Storms, president and CEO of Red Spot Paint & Varnish Co. Inc., will lead a discussion of global alliances for small and medium-size companies.

In the other forum sessions:

• Brand marketing-expert Sam Hill will lead a discussion of new ways generate business by means of novel marketing, branding and strategy concepts.

• Bill Forester, vice president of Procurement, Bayer Corp., will address the implications of higher raw-material and energy costs.

• Chuck Bangert of Orr & Boss and Larry Culver of Eastman Chemical Co. will unveil the NPCA's "U.S. Paint & Coatings Market Analysis: 2002-2007."

More information on the Annual Meeting is available on the NPCA website located at www.paint.org/ meetings/annualreg.htm.