In today’s shaky economy, it’s the ethical businesses that will maintain strength, says Kevin Marsh, president and chief operating officer of South Carolina Electric & Gas.

Marsh will speak at the Miller Learning Center rotunda today, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

Marsh graduated from the University in 1977 with a bachelor’s of business administration degree in accounting, and now plans to speak on “Business Ethics: The Essential Option,” which involves his opinions of sound business decisions in today’s economy.

“I think if you don’t have ethics, you may do well in the short term, but in the long term, you won’t be here,” Marsh said in a phone interview Monday.

“We run our company based on our core values,” he said. “The way we make decisions, the kind of people we deal with, the kind of investors we look for and the kind of business partners we have all go back to our core values.”

Marsh has an acronym to describe his core values – “SACRED”: Serve our community, Achieve, Communicate openly and honestly, Respect diversity and care for each other, Excel in customer service and safety, and Do what is right.

He has been in the business industry for more than 30 years, and he said business ethics and teaching employees good business procedures is important

Marsh said he does this by providing real life examples.

“I’ve seen more problems arise just because people don’t do things the right way and don’t have solid ethics, and it’s caused a lot of problems,” he said.

“I think a lot of the problems in the economy today are caused as a result of that,” he said. “And I think the sooner people understand that you can have a lot of technology and a lot of education, but if you don’t use that in the right way and follow some sound business practices, you can end up in trouble.”

Marsh said he believes customer interactions are also an important part of business.

“People have a belief on how you do business based on what you tell them, how you act and the way you run your business day to day,” he said.

Marsh said he thinks University students should hear his presentation because the students are the future of business, and one day they will be the ones who are going to lead the nation’s companies.