News Release:
April 30, 2004
            
Contact:
Mike Andrei
Director-College Relations
839-8472

Event
Information: Daemen Conference Office
839-8253
Director-College Relations
(716) 839-8472
            
Claire Starkey '81, to Address Daemen Class of 2004

President of Fintrac, Inc., Specializing in International Agribusiness Development

Claire Starkey

Claire Starkey, President of Fintrac Inc., a multi-million dollar international consultancy firm specializing in agribusiness development, will address the Daemen College Class of 2004. Commencement exercises will take place 2:00 p.m., Saturday, May 22, at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo. Over 400 degrees are expected to be conferred.

Starkey majored in history at Daemen College, graduating cum laude in 1981. Prior to starting Fintrac with her husband fourteen years ago, she held management positions with several international trade associations, and was the director of a USAID-funded small business program in the Caribbean. Headquartered in Washington D.C., Fintrac employs more than 70 staff members, and has offices in the UK, Central America, and East Africa. The company's mandate is to sustainably improve the sales and incomes of its end-beneficiaries, who are primarily small farmers.

Fintrac has been the recipient of the US Chamber's "Blue Chip Enterprise Award," been cited by the SBA as a regional success story, and been featured in the Paris-based "Le Monde" newspaper for its innovative management approach. Starkey is a frequently invited lecturer on topics of market trends and information technologies at international agribusiness conferences and symposiums. She received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Daemen in 1999, and was honored for her volunteer work with small business owners at the National Women's Business Center in 2002.

Starkey's recent published works include BDS Case Studies in Agriculture, World Bank, 2003; Utilizing Information Technologies to Improve Business Performance, SEEP Conference, 1999; Marketing Tools for Business Promotion, USAID Lessons Across Borders Conference, Chicago 1999; Market Information and the Internet: Impact on the Agribusiness Trade, USDA Food Safety Workshop, Jamaica, 1998; Opportunities for Latin American Exports, Growtech Conference, Miami, Florida, 1997; Innovations in Marketing and Business Management, Entrepreneurs' Seminar, AMTT/Chad, 1994.

Her professional memberships include the Capital Award Committee of the Women's Business Center, 2001-2004; BB&T Community Housing Steering Committee, 1999-2001; mentor, Women's Business Center, 1999-present; and Women of Washington, 1997-1999.