Members of the Association for Corporate Growth who are gathering together for ACG InterGrowth 2013 will hear from “Two Wise Men with a Plan.” Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and Erskine Bowles, the former White House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, who is also known to dealmakers as the founder of boutique investment bank Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., are speaking at a lunchtime keynote on Tues. April 23 at the conference, which is being held at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Fla.

Together, Simpson and Bowles co-chair the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a bipartisan commission that developed a plan for trimming the nation's deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade.

“What better time in our nation's political history would there be to bring Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles together -- which is a rare thing -- to talk about the most pressing domestic issue in the U.S.?" queries Gary LaBranche, president and CEO of ACG.

Also on deck as a keynote speaker on April 24 is Adm. Eric Olson, the former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command and the highest ranking Navy SEAL ever. Olson served during a period that saw some of the country's most intense manhunts, such as the one that resulted in the 2011 death of al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, who was believed to be responsible for the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

In his talk on “The World at Night: A Perspective on Geo Political Challenges,” Olson offers attendees the "opportunity to hear from somebody who has to make life and death decisions that affect national security and world peace," explains LaBranche. "Think about the kinds of things the Navy SEALs have done and the attention to detail they have, the preparedness and the thinking through a problem and envisioning 16 scenarios that could occur. It's always uplifting to gain insight from people in entirely different fields. To see and understand how they have dealt with issues illuminates what we do."

Also on April 24, Mergers & Acquisitions editor-in-chief Mary Kathleen Flynn will moderate a panel on “The Innocents Abroad: Opportunities and Risks in Going Global.” Panelists include: Jim Butterfield, principal, southeast U.S., The Riverside Company; Piero Carbone, partner, Duane Morris LLP, Lee Duran, assurance partner, BDO USA, LLP and Torben Luth, partner, JZ International.

Flynn will be conducting video interviews at the conference. Tune into www.themiddlemarket.com/video to watch the conversations.

For more on Erskine Bowles, see “Standard Bearer.” For more on Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., see “Living Legacy.” And for more on the conference, see "Welcome to ACG InterGrowth 2013” and "Focus on Florida."