Regional Economist to Issue 2009 Northern Colorado Forecast on October 1

Note to Editors: Photos of Shields are available with the news release at http://www.newsinfo.colostate.edu/.

Colorado State University’s stabilizing presence, the region’s highly skilled workforce and a collection of promising industry clusters are combining to help northern Colorado outperform the state and national economies, said Martin Shields, regional economist for northern Colorado. He will discuss these trends in his 2009 economic forecast on Oct. 1.

The second annual Colorado State University Regional Economic Summit and Forecast will be 2-5:30 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel, 350 E. Horsetooth Road, Fort Collins. Registration is open at www.regonline.com/08EconomicSummit through Sept. 26. Cost to attend the summit is $30; late registration is $45.

The summit is co-hosted by the Colorado State University Office of Economic Development and the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp., which collaborate to promote economic development research and action in northern Colorado. Business, education and government leaders will be in attendance to hear from Shields and industry leaders about the overall health of the economy, the skilled workforce that is essential for retaining global competitiveness and the region’s health care and clean energy clusters. More than 300 people benefited from last year’s inaugural summit and forecast.

Shields’ role as regional economist is made possible through a partnership between the university’s Office of Economic Development and the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp.

Hunt Lambert, director of the CSU Office of Economic Development, and Maury Dobbie, chief executive officer of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp., will open the summit at 2 p.m.

Other program highlights:

2:15-2:45 p.m. – Shields will discuss the results of his team’s study of higher education’s contribution to the Colorado economy and Northern Colorado’s emerging workforce opportunities.

2:45 p.m. – Key higher education and industry leaders will discuss creating the new workforce in the region. Panelists include Tony Frank, provost at Colorado State University; Tom Gendron, chairman and CEO of Woodward Governor; Glenn Wilson, Fort Collins Brewery Plant Manager for Anheuser-Busch; and Jerry Wilson, Poudre School District superintendent.

3:30-4:15 p.m. – Lambert will lead a community discussion on the northern Colorado economy.

4:30-5:15 p.m. – Shields will present his 2009 forecast.

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