2019 REMI Annual Users’ Conference October 16-18 Populism, Policy Analysis and the Economy Santa Fe, New Mexico

<strong><u>SPEAKERS</strong></u>

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  Jim Robey, Ph.D.

  W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

  Jim Robey ’s research and technical assistance on economic issues and in economic and workforce development has assisted corporate, nonprofit, and economic and workforce development entities in problem resolution and strategic decision making, from the local to the national levels. Spanning more than three decades, his expertise includes industry studies, applied occupational analysis, economic impact modeling and analysis, economic and workforce development research and analysis, and site selection assistance. Robey’s research focuses on regional economic, education, economic development, and workforce development issues across Michigan and the nation. He prepares annual employment forecasts for southwest Michigan’s metropolitan areas, directs the production of Business Outlook for West Michigan, and provides economic insights for regional economic development across northwest Ohio, and the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey. He has additionally coauthored research on a variety of national and regional issues. He received his Ph.D. in Urban Studies (1997), with an emphasis on Economic Development, and his Master’s degree in Public Administration (1993) from the Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology (1979) from Edinboro State College. Prior to joining Upjohn, Robey was an Associate Vice President with Southwest Michigan First in Kalamazoo, MI, where he directed local economic development efforts in Marshall, MI. Prior to working in Kalamazoo, Robey was Managing Director at Mohr Partners, Inc., where he focused on site selection and economic and workforce development strategies, and was Vice President of Research at TeamNEO, where he oversaw and developed economic research across 16 northeast Ohio counties.

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  Steven Shwiff, Ph.D.

  Texas A&M University-Commerce

  Dr. Steven Shwiff holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Texas at Austin in June of 1967, Master’s degree in Economics from St. Mary’s University – San Antonio in May of 1973, and Ph.D. in Economics from Texas A& M University – College Station in June of 1977. Dr. Shwiff has been a Professor of Economics at Texas A&M University – Commerce since 1990. His area of specialization is Urban and Regional Economics and Disease and Invasive Species spread analysis. He has published numerous articles, studies, books and chapters in books. He received his Certified Professional Forecaster designation in 2007 from the Institute for Business Forecasting. Dr. Shwiff also spent 10 years working in the corporate sector. From 1980 to 1985 he was Manager of Research and Analysis for the Adolph Coors Company and from 1985 to 1990 he served as Vice-President for Strategic Planning, the Schuck Corporation and President of the Colorado Center and think tank funded by the Corporation. Dr. Shwiff has taught at the China University of Geosciences – Beijing, the Catholic University of Brasilia, and Monterrey Technological Institute – Mexico City. He has twice been awarded the Outstanding Teaching Professor Award at Texas A&M – Commerce. Dr. Shwiff and his wife Barbara live in Commerce, Texas.

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  Joyce Jauer

  New York City Economic Development Corporation

  Joyce Jauer currently serves as Vice President of the Economic Research & Policy department of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, overseeing monitoring and evaluation efforts and policy formation. Most recently, Ms. Jauer served as a Senior Revenue Analyst for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts tracking federal funds and leading projects on health care expenditures, state budget cost drivers, tax exemptions, and Hurricane Harvey costs and economic impact. She has experience in social enterprise, nonprofit management, and financial advising including having served as the CFO of a cycle rickshaw venture in Varanasi, India. Ms. Jauer founded Loka Culture and Development USA, which supports holistic education of children in Bihar, India. She has served on the board of the United Way of the Brazos Valley, the Harvard Club of San Antonio, the Chief Minister’s Technical Committee for Battery Rickshaws, as well as selected for the Piramal Fellowship for Sustainable Business. Ms. Jauer holds a Master of Public Service and Administration from the Bush School at Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from Harvard University.

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  Luis Nieves-Ruiz

  East Central Florida Regional Planning Council

  Originally from Puerto Rico, Luis Nieves-Ruiz holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Luis is in charge of coordinating economic development projects and activities for the Council’s eight-county East Central Florida region, including the implementation of the region’s Community Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). His areas of professional expertise include economic impact and industry cluster analyses, planning research methods, and food systems planning. Luis is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Connect Florida Statewide Leadership Institute, Leadership Florida’s program for young professionals. He was also selected to be part of Next City’s 2012 Vanguard Class, a national program for young urban leaders.

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  Hector Vielma, Ph.D.

  Illinois Department of Revenue

  Dr. Hector M. Vielma is a senior economist at the Office of Fiscal and Economic Research at the Illinois Department of Revenue. Dr. Vielma has developed and worked with a number of econometric models and methodologies to forecast Individual Income Tax. Some of his work includes modeling the effects of tax legislation and policy change proposals using a statewide micro-simulation model developed for such purpose. He also conducts fiscal impact analysis of individual income tax legislative proposals, as well as state and regional analysis of economic trends as they relate to state tax revenue. Prior to working for the Illinois Department of Revenue, Dr. Vielma was an economic development consultant. For several years, he was also a lecturer at the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he taught macro and micro economics at the graduate and undergraduate level. Dr. Vielma worked also as an auditor for the largest bank in Chile. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MBA (Finance) from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile.

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  Colin Belle

  Region 1 Planning Council

  Colin Belle is a Metropolitan Planner at the Region 1 Planning Council located in Northern Illinois within the Rockford Metropolitan Planning Area. He has been employed with the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning, now the Region 1 Planning Council, for nearly 6 years. Prior to joining the Region 1 Planning Council, Mr. Belle was employed with Empire State Development, as well as the New York State Office of Parks and Recreation in the Planning and Programming Division. Mr. Belle is in charge of running the region’s 3-county Travel Demand Model and REMI model. He also specializes in Land-Use and Regional Growth, Transportation Systems Planning, Congestion Management, and Impact Forecasting. Mr. Belle earned his Master’s of Regional Planning from the State University of New York at Albany.

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  Scott Nystrom

  FTI Consulting, Inc.

  Scott Nystrom is a Senior Director at FTI Consulting and is based in McLean, Virginia. Mr. Nystrom is in the Network Industry Strategies (“NIS”) practice within the Economic Consulting segment. He is an expert on macroeconomic, regional, and energy modeling and applying them to policy analysis and economic impact analysis. For the past eight years, Mr. Nystrom has conducted studies related to economic growth, climate, energy, fiscal policy, and demographics for federal agencies, numerous state and local governments, nonprofits, trade associations, utilities, major corporations, and law firms. His areas of research have included energy and the environment, infrastructure, economic development, healthcare, project development, capital investments, labor markets, international trade, and federal/state fiscal policy.

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  Randy DeShazo

  Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council

  Randy DeShazo is Director of Research at Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. At TBRPC, Mr. DeShazo conducts grant and contract research on behalf of the member governments of the Tampa Bay area, private sector clients, non-profits and Florida state government. In recent years, Mr. DeShazo has conducted transportation corridor, target industry and economic base studies for regional partners. Randy has used REMI PI+ and REMI TranSight to study the economic and land use impacts of highway investment, environmental issues and climate change, among many other topics. Beginning his career in Florida, Mr. DeShazo has worked at Metropolitan Planning Organizations in California and in Chicago, preparing forecasts, conducting freight planning and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through better aligned transportation and housing policy. He also taught courses in San Jose State University’s graduate program in Urban Planning. A native of New Orleans, Mr. DeShazo is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and has a Master’s in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.

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  Paul Stroik, Ph.D.

  South Coast Air Quality Management District

  Paul Stroik received his Ph.D. in Environmental Economics from the University of California, Irvine in 2016. He works as an Economist/Air Quality Specialist for the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD), where he performs cost analyses of proposed new and amended rules of stationary sources of pollution. The South Coast AQMD uses REMI in estimating regional effects of proposed new and amended rules, along with their air quality management plans laying out a future portfolio of rules aimed at reducing local air pollution.

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  Mark Ehlen, Ph.D.

  Sandia National Laboratories

  Mark Ehlen , Ph.D. is a Research Scientist at Sandia National Laboratories with Engineering and Economics degrees from Cornell University. Since 1996, Dr. Ehlen has used the REMI model to assess the impacts of new technologies, the impacts of natural and man-made disasters, and the economic impacts of nuclear attacks.

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  Anne deBoer

  AECOM

  Anne deBoer has been a member of AECOM’s Sustainable Economics team since 2017, which is based out of San Francisco, California. She specializes in economic impact assessments for funding and financing resilience, as well as adaption projects. Ms. deBoer has worked with clients from both the public and private sectors to deliver real estate and policy strategy recommendations to address the impacts of climate change using tools such as triple bottom line and benefit-cost analyses. Recent work in Florida has incorporated REMI modeling to better understand the secondary effects of sea level rise and coastal storm surge. Previous experience includes working with the City of San Francisco Planning Department to help update their greenhouse gas reduction strategy, in addition to providing facility management and greenhouse gas inventorying for institutions of higher education. She received her Master’s in City Planning from University of California, Berkeley and Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Wesleyan University.

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  Yi Geng, Ph.D.

  D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer

  Yi Geng , Ph.D. is currently the Senior Economist for the Office of Revenue Analysis in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer in Washington, D.C. Prior to his work in the nation’s capital, Dr. Geng served as a Financial Economist for the Kansas Department of Revenue. Dr. Geng received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Kansas, concentrating in macroeconomics and econometrics.

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  Jeff Hardcastle

  Nevada Department of Taxation

  Jeff Hardcastle is the Nevada State Demographer, and is located at the Nevada Department of Taxation. As such, Mr. Hardcastle produces annual population estimates; population projections; and age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin estimates and projections. He represents the State of Nevada to the Federal–State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE). Mr. Hardcastle serves as Nevada’s Governor’s Liaison for the Census. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Addressing Priority Technical Issues for the Next Decade of the American Community Survey.

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  Vanessa Vargas

  Sandia National Laboratories

  Vanessa N. Vargas is employed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and is the Lead Economist for the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC). While at SNL, she has lead and contributed to numerous research efforts ranging from the economic impacts of natural and man-made disruptive events to long-term chronic issues such as drought and climate effects. The tools and research efforts as part of NISAC have focused on the interdependencies between engineered systems and human systems. She earned a B.A. in Economics and an M.A. in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics at the University of New Mexico.

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  Peter Gunther

  Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis (CCEA)

  Peter Gunther is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis (CCEA) in the School of Business at the University of Connecticut. Mr. Gunther resides in Ottawa, Canada where he is also President of Smith Gunther Associates Ltd., a modestly-sized economic consultancy. Over the last 15 years with Fred Carstensen, Director of CCEA, they have undertaken at least 75 REMI applications, many of which have required estimates of complex amenities. From 2002-2006, he served the International Government Authority on Development as the Resource Person for the Wealth Sharing Table of the Sudanese Peace Negotiations. More recently, Mr. Gunther’s international studies have focused on the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Basin for the Great Lakes Commission. Within Canada, his work has concentrated on the evaluation of various federal government projects, studies of multi-occupational medical teams for more efficiently delivering healthcare, improvements in the blood deliver system, development of novel drugs, and innovative medical diagnostic tools. His private sector Canadian studies have covered enhanced participation in recreational activities, such as recreational marine, fishing, ATVing, snowmobiling, and motorcycling.

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  Patrick Barkey, Ph.D.

  University of Montana

  Patrick Barkey has served as Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research since 2008. He has been involved with economic forecasting and policy research for more than 30 years, in both the private and public sectors. Before coming to Montana, Dr. Barkey served as Director of the Bureau of Business Research at Ball State University in Indiana for fourteen years. His recent research has been on the economic impact of energy development, the property tax treatment of the telecommunications industry and the economic impact of trade with Canada. Dr. Barkey holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan.

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  Rod Motamedi

  University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute

  Rod Motamedi is a Research Manager at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute with over eight years of experience conducting economic and policy impact analyses, economic development and regional competitiveness assessments, and industry footprint studies. Prior to joining the Donahue Institute, Mr. Motamedi was a Senior Economic Associate at Regional Economic Models, Inc. He is an expert in the application of economic models to high-visibility issues around the U.S. and internationally. His current projects include an assessment of the impacts of container deposits laws, the economic and social impacts of the introduction of casinos in Massachusetts, and workforce supply and demand alignment in Metro Boston. Mr. Motamedi received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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  Colby Lancelin

  Atlanta Regional Commission

  Colby Lancelin is responsible for the performance and management of various programs producing studies, analysis, and technical reports, and serves as the key administrator of the REMI econometric model. In this role, Mr. Lancelin is charged to: • Create regional forecasts, transportation impact and prioritization analyses, and transportation sensitivity analysis. • Manage the Research and Analytics division’s long-range planning program, economic analysis program, and scenario planning program.

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  Sharon Ju, Ph.D.

  Houston-Galveston Area Council

  Sharon Ju has been working for Houston-Galveston Area Council since 1998. Her first REMI project was estimating Houston region population and employment growth using REMI Policy Insight around the year 2000. Dr. Ju later moved to the travel demand forecast modeling group, specializing in demographic data, land use and GIS transportation analysis mainly for the travel demand model applications. Dr. Ju holds a Ph.D. in Economics from University of Houston. Her research interests include urban economics, economic geography and econometrics.

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  Bobby Lu

  Association of Bay Area Governments

  Bobby Lu develops regional economic forecast models and analyzes regional trends of the Bay Area. His current work emphasizes on understanding labor market and supporting local and regional economic development efforts. Mr. Lu joined ABAG as a Regional Planner and Analyst in fall of 2014. Mr. Lu received his master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

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  Lirong Liu, Ph.D.

  Texas A&M University-Commerce

  Lirong Liu is an Associate Professor of Economics at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Dr. Liu holds a Ph.D. in Economics and a M.S. in Statistics from the University of Tennessee. Her research areas include environmental economics, international services trade, and economic impact evaluations. She is experienced in developing and economic models and evaluate the economic impact of invasive species and diseases. Recently, Dr. Liu has conducted several economic impact analysis that evaluate the economic impact of FMD disease and invasive leafhopper. Her research works have appeared in various high-impact peer-reviewed journals including Ecological Economics and the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.

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  Maryfrances Miller, Ph.D.

  New Mexico University

  Maryfrances Miller is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at New Mexico State University. She has received various awards for her professional and volunteer achievements within the technology and agriculture sectors. Dr. Miller has extensive experience as a presenter and has been featured in several publications. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science and her master’s in Agricultural Economics from New Mexico State University before receiving her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Economy from the University of Texas at Dallas. Prior to returning to work for her alma mater, Dr. Miller was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Texas A&M University-Commerce and also worked for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture.

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  Kenneth Voytek

  National Institute of Standards and Technology

  Kenneth Voytek is the Chief Economist and Manager of the Program Evaluation and Economic Research Group with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He has previously held senior research positions at the Urban Institute, the Michigan Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Alliance of Business, and Goodwill Industries International. His work has appeared in several academic journals, as well as in multiple books and book chapters. Mr. Voytek earned his B.A. in Economics (with honors) from St. Edward’s University and an M.A. from West Virginia University. He is currently working on earning his Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration.

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  Jeff Ferry

  Coalition for a Prosperous America

  Jeff Ferry is Research Director at the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA), a nonpartisan Washington advocacy group including manufacturers, labor unions, and agricultural organizations. The CPA is committed to new trade policies to rebuild US manufacturing and restore American prosperity and rising living standards. Mr. Ferry has degrees in Economics from Harvard University and the London School of Economics. Prior to joining CPA, he worked in marketing roles for Silicon Valley technology companies.

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  John Cho, Ph.D.

  Southern California Association of Governments

  John Cho , Ph.D. is a Senior Regional Planner at the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Dr. Cho is specialized in regional data science, growth forecast, and research in various topics including environmental justice, transit analysis, and economic modeling. He conducts economic impact analysis from transportation investment. Dr. Cho has published several research papers in leading journals, including the Journal of Transport Geography, Natural Hazards, Transportation Planning and Technology, Journal of Transportation Research Forum, and Transport Policy. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering, specialized in transportation planning and engineering from the University of Southern California. Dr. Cho also holds a Master of Art in Economics from Seoul National University.

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  George Fulton, Ph.D.

  University of Michigan

  George Fulton received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan. He is currently Director Emeritus and Research Professor Emeritus of RSQE, the forecasting unit in the Department of Economics at the University of Michigan. Dr. Fulton has been forecasting economic and fiscal activity in the state of Michigan for four decades. For this work he has received many commendations and special tributes, including from Governor Snyder, the Michigan legislature, and University of Michigan President Schlissel. In 2016, he was presented with a Distinguished Speaker Award by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the State Treasurer. In 2015, he received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Economic and Demographic Analysis from REMI. His most recent reports—coauthored with Donald Grimes of the University of Michigan—focus on the current demographic and economic outlook for Michigan, its counties, and the Detroit region over the next 30 years. In addition to providing quantitative information on where the state and its regions are heading through 2045, the studies highlight the lessons that are critical to planning for the future, focusing on what to expect from a dramatically changing demographic profile.

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  Marley Buchman

  ECONorthwest

  Marley Buchman is an Economist at ECONorthwest. He joined as an associate in 2017 specializing in economic impact modeling, statistical programming, and data analysis, providing insights across a wide range of economic, education, and urban development projects. Before joining ECONorthwest, Mr. Buchman worked as a Senior Economic Associate for Regional Economic Models Inc. While at REMI, he modeled the economic and fiscal impacts of changes in transportation, taxation, energy, and environmental policies across the U.S.

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  Michael Wilkerson, Ph.D.

  ECONorthwest

  Michael Wilkerson , Ph.D., is a Project Director and Senior Economist at ECONorthwest. He brings over 10 years of private-sector experience as an economic consultant and as an analyst in the financial services industry. Dr. Wilkerson studies urban economics for both public and private sector clients—with a focus on land use, transportation, and real estate development and how they interact with the regional economy. Using a data-driven approach that focuses on spatial analysis, he conducts housing market analyses, development feasibility studies, TOD implementation studies and master plans, economic impact analyses, and provides expert testimony. Dr. Wilkerson regularly presents at national conferences on topics related to real estate economics, including the American Planning Association and the Urban Land Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Claremont Graduate University and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Portland State University.

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  Pete Walley

  Pete Walley made several contributions to Mississippi in his roles as Director of the Bureau of Long-Range Economic Development Planning that is housed within the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, Director of the State’s Energy Office, and New Venture Development Specialist with the Mississippi Research and Development Center. Mr. Walley’s extensive engineering experience featured a Structural Design Engineer position with Boeing Aircraft in Seattle, WA and work as a manufacturing engineer with the Vickers Division of the Sperry Rand Corporation, which is now Eaton Aerospace. He also served as Co-Founder and President of the consulting firm Tru-Amp Engineering Services that specialized in electrical sub-station design and maintenance, and director of the Jackson Engineering Graduate Program, a joint off-campus degree granting program of the engineering schools of Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi. Mr. Walley earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Mississippi State University and an MBA from Mississippi College. He completed additional studies in economic and international development as well.

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  Randall Eberts, Ph.D.

  W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

  Randall Eberts , Ph.D. is Senior Researcher and Immediate Past President of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. His primary areas of research the effect of public policy toward manufacturing, job training, education, low-wage workers, and the evaluation of workforce programs. Recently, he researched the regional effects of Manufacturing Extension Partnerships on manufacturing enterprises. He also developed for the U.S. Department of Labor a framework for adjusting national, state, and local performance targets for the public workforce system, and collaborated with the OECD on issues related to partnerships between local economic development and workforce development agencies. Currently, he is developing ways to make workforce programs administered at the local levels more effective through predictive analytics and behavioral science insights. Dr. Eberts has published numerous articles on those topics and others and has co-authored several books. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University.

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  Michael Pijan

  Illinois Department of Revenue

  Michael Pijan is a Research Economist with the Office of Fiscal and Economic Research at the Illinois Department of Revenue. Mr. Pijan’s primary expertise is in forecasting and policy analysis for a multitude of state excise taxes. In his role, he serves as the Principal Economist for both medical and adult use cannabis legalization. Mr. Pijan holds a Master’s of Public Administration (Financial Management) and a Bachelor’s degree in Urban and Public Affairs from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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  Frederick R. Treyz, Ph.D.

  REMI

  Frederick R. Treyz , Ph.D., is the Chief Economist and CEO of Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI), a leading provider of dynamic economic policy analysis models. He is an authority on regional macroeconomic modeling research and application. Under Dr. Treyz’s leadership, REMI has remained at the forefront of regional modeling, and informs public policy debates through the use of REMI models to evaluate economic development, transportation, energy, taxation, and other topics. The company’s clients include federal, state, and regional agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, leading national associations, universities, and consultants. Dr. Treyz oversees the research and development of the REMI model. He publishes in leading journals; this year he authored the paper “Immigration and United States Economic Growth,” in Business Economics, the journal of the National Association for Business Economics. He holds an A.B. in Economics from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Regional Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

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  Jerry Hayes

  REMI

  Jerry Hayes is a Vice President at REMI, where he oversees the Research and Development department. He is the Project Manager for all model developments, helping to design new software features and products and make programming changes to the model structure and interface. Since joining REMI in 2002, Mr. Hayes has contributed to most areas of software development, including improving and optimizing existing model code and processes, designing and implementing new features, working on new products, and managing software development. He has also been involved in analyzing and processing data, testing, and troubleshooting. Mr. Hayes received a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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  Peter Evangelakis, Ph.D.

  REMI

  Peter Evangelakis , Ph.D., is a Senior Economist at REMI. Since joining REMI in September 2017, he has assisted clients in planning and conducting economic analysis using the REMI model, contributed to the firm’s business development efforts, and prepared and presented in-person and online seminars on topics such as Amazon HQ 2.0 and innovation in transportation. Dr. Evangelakis is based at REMI’s Washington D.C. office. Prior to starting at REMI, Dr. Evangelakis taught undergraduate Intermediate Microeconomics as a lecturer at the University of Chicago. He is an experienced economic researcher and analyst; highlights of his work include measuring the effects of climate change on mortality and electricity usage and estimating air quality effects of the NOx Budget Program. Dr. Evangelakis has written papers analyzing the effects of Florida property tax reform and the non-pecuniary benefits of building a professional sports stadium. He also served as an intern at The Washington Economics Group, Inc., and The Human Services Coalition of Miami-Dade County. Dr. Evangelakis holds Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Economics from University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics from Swarthmore College.

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  Kyle Compton

  REMI

  Kyle Compton is an Economic Associate at REMI, responsible for client support and business development. Mr. Compton has tested and reported on the company’s dynamic economic modeling software. He also assisted in sales and marketing through data analysis and development of a regular benchmarking system. Prior to starting at REMI, Mr. Compton was a research intern/consultant for Verité, a nonprofit organization that conducts research, advocacy and consulting on global working conditions. He presented original research on panel-regression analysis of the causes of forced labor and researched labor profiles of emerging economies. Building on his work for Verité, he earned the James Kindahl Award in Economics from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst for his paper, “Determinants of Forced Labor: Evidence from 21 Emerging Economies.” The paper is under review for publishing in the Massachusetts Undergraduate Journal of Economics. Mr. Compton earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from UMass Amherst.

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  Jacob Linger

  REMI

  Jacob Linger is an Economic Associate at REMI, helping to support clients and identify uses for dynamic economic modeling. Mr. Linger has assisted with model presentations, client demonstrations, and software quality assurance. Prior to starting at REMI, Mr. Linger was a Research Assistant for the Economics department at The Ohio State University, working alongside an international team of economists tasked with updating the Census of Business Records. He also served as a Research Assistant for the University’s College of Business, an Undergraduate Economics Society member, and writer for the Undergraduate Economics Journal. Mr. Linger earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The Ohio State University, specializing in Economics with a minor in Mathematics.