The latest local economic trends and projections are the main topics of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project's North Santa Barbara County Economic Summit. The annual North County-focused report takes place on Friday, May 3, from 8 to 10:30 a.m. at the Radisson Hotel, 3455 Skyway Dr., in Santa Maria.
The North County summit features Thomas Cooley, professor at the New York University Stern School of Business; Bonnie Queen, Economic Forecast Project research analyst; Rod Alferness, dean of the UCSB College of Engineering; and, in his third year as executive director of the Economic Forecast Project, UCSB professor and Economics Department chair Peter Rupert.
The event starts at 7:30 a.m. with check-in and breakfast. At 8 a.m. Cooley will kick off the presentations with a discussion of the ongoing Eurozone sovereign-debt crisis. The crisis represents a major blow not only to the economic stability of several European countries, but also to their political situations. Cooley, a widely published scholar in the areas of macroeconomic theory, monetary theory and policy, and the financial behavior of firms, has also been a senior adviser and member of the Board of Managers of Standard & Poors. Currently, he serves on the Council on Foreign Relations.
The discussion turns local with a presentation by Queen on the latest North County demographic data. A Ph.D. student in the Department of Economics at UCSB, Queen received her bachelor's degree in economics from the College of William and Mary, and her master's degree from UCSB.
Rupert follows with the summit's mainstay, the annual overview of the local and regional economic picture for business, industry, and households. A specialist in macroeconomics, monetary economics, labor, and family economics, Rupert was a senior research advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland for 13 years. He is also associate director of the Laboratory of Aggregate Economics and Finance at UCSB.
Alferness will then present a forward-looking talk about growing the technology sector in Santa Barbara County. Before joining UCSB in September of 2011, Alferness spent 35 years at Bell Labs, where he was responsible for not only the research, but also long-term strategy, government and university partnerships, and research excellence programs. His research has been central to the development and deployment of fiber optic communications networks that underpin the global Internet. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The UCSB Economic Forecast Project was established in 1981 by the Department of Economics to provide the community with information on economic, demographic, and regional business trends. This year's main sponsor is Union Bank.
The summit is open to the public and admission is $50 per person. A copy of the 2013 North Santa Barbara County Economic Outlook report is included with admission. Tickets can be purchased by calling (805) 893-5148, or at the door on the day of the summit. Credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express) are accepted.
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