Longwood University, located in Farmville, Va., has established a center that will train "future leaders" in the growing logistics field.

The Longwood Logistics Center, housed in the College of Business and Economics, will feature academic courses, certificate programs and executive training to help satisfy the growing demands related to logistics, modeling and simulation, distribution and transportation.

A logistics certificate program, consisting of four courses, will begin in spring 2013, and an MBA with a certificate in logistics will be offered beginning in August 2013.

The center's activities will eventually include international conferences, an international journal and a mixture of traditional on-campus and online courses, which will benefit surrounding industry and government agencies. A computer lab is planned that will help facilitate team use of modeling and simulation software.

The center also will be an academic research-oriented partner to the Virginia Logistics Research Center (VLRC), as well as with VLRC's academic, industry and federal agency partners including the Army's Sustainment Center of Excellence and the Army Logistics University at Fort Lee, and the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation facility in Richmond.

"The Longwood Logistics Center will work both directly and via the VLRC in developing the workforce of the future in logistics and supply chain management," said Dr. Paul Barrett, dean of the College of Business and Economics. "This technology is driving most of the global economy, and many of the newest CEOs who have been named to Fortune 500 companies are logistics and supply chain management experts. The center's mission is to prepare future business leaders who are needed and will be leading these types of corporations."

The center's director is Dr. Jim Haug, assistant professor of management, who has a background in logistics. Haug has worked for more than three years to develop logistics-related relationships with the Crater Planning District Commission, based in Petersburg; Fort Lee, near Petersburg, which has been called "the logistics capital of the world"; and VLRC, which will facilitate collaboration among industry, educational institutions and government in the design and analysis of logistics systems.

Longwood was VLRC's first academic partner. Virginia State University and the University of Virginia also are partners, with Virginia Commonwealth University soon to follow.