The National Association of Blind Merchants is excited to announce U.S. Navy SEAL Leif Babin will deliver the keynote address at the 2016 BLAST Conference to be held May 17-20, 2016, at the Loews Chicago O’Hare Hotel. Babin co-wrote with fellow Navy SEAL Jocko Willink the New York Times Best Selling book on leadership entitled, “Extreme Ownership : How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win.” He will discuss the leadership skills he learned as a Navy SEAL and how those lessons transfer to the world of business. Babin and Willink are co-founders of Echelon Front, a leadership consulting firm. They don’t teach theories learned in classrooms. Instead, they offer practical solutions based on their combat experiences. Babin is excited to be part of BLAST. He sees it as a way of honoring his best friend and fellow Navy SEAL who was blinded in combat and later died from complications from other injuries. BLAST, which is the premiere training conference for blind entrepreneurs in the country, will feature several other top speakers and will include topics of importance to the Randolph-Sheppard community. The highlight will be the trade show which will include dozens of exhibitors. Mark your calendars now to attend BLAST. You can register by going to www.blindmerchants.org and clicking on the BLAST menu item.