Association for University
Business and Economic Research

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Vanessa is director of the Idaho Policy Institute (IPI) at Boise State University and an associate research professor in the School of Public Service at Boise State. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. She holds a BA in Biology and Fine Art from Wittenberg University in Ohio, a MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School, and a PhD in public policy and administration from Boise State. Fry has served on the AUBER board since October 2021.

Marc is currently the principal economist at Breakthrough, a transportation, logistics, supply chain and storage company in
Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. Prior to his new role in the public sector, Marc formerly served as executive director of the Center for Business & Economic Analysis, and professor of economics and data analysis at St. Norbert College, where his research focused on monetary and financial economics with an emphasis on the behavior of financial institutions. Marc holds a BA from Augustana College (Illinois), in addition to a MBA and PhD in Applied Economics from Western Michigan.

Mike is the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University. He previously served on the faculty of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management and at research centers at Marshall University and the University of Tennessee. Hicks earned doctoral and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Virginia Military Institute. He is a retired Army reserve infantryman having served in combat and peacekeeping operations in North Africa, Southwest Asia, Korea and Japan. Full bio.

Brian is associate director of the Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. Brian provides regional business and economic information and education, including economic and revenue forecasts, policy studies, economic impact analyses, and data workshops. Brian has 13 years’ experience conducting economic studies at CU Boulder. Prior to CU, he worked in both the private sector and government. He is currently the President of the Denver Association of Business Economists.

Nicole is executive director of the University of West Florida Haas Center, part of UWF’s Division of Academic Affairs. She is Vice Chair of Florida’s Great Northwest and a Trustee with the Florida Chamber Foundation. She serves on the board of the Northwest Florida Manufacturers’ Council, and is a member of the Rotary Club of Pensacola and Pensacola IMPACT 100. Her previous work includes a public-private partnership between Florida’s manufacturing sector, the State, and the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Full bio.

Monica serves as the director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at the Labovitz School of Business and Economics at University of Minnesota Duluth. Haynes has been the director of the BBER for nine years. She also serves as an adjunct faculty in LSBE’s economics department, as chair of Labovitz School of Business and Economics’ Outreach Committee, and on the Duluth Workforce Development Board. She earned a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and a B.A. in Political Science and Statistics from the University of Minnesota Morris. In her spare time, she enjoys running, biking, cooking, and reading.

Mitch is a political scientist with a background in public policy. Since 2007, Dr. Herian has worked both in academic and private settings to provide policy analysis and program evaluation support to government agencies and non-profits. Currently, he serves as Project Director at the Bureau of Business Research at University of Nebraska—Lincoln, where he helps conduct sponsored research and assists with oversight of the Bureau Scholars program.

Herian received his doctoral degree from UNL in 2008 and worked for the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center from 2008 to 2012. From 2012 to 2017, Dr. Herian worked for private industry conducting research for various federal agencies while maintaining a research and teaching affiliation with UNL. In 2017, he began his work with the Bureau.

Jenny is an associate professor in the Toulan School of Urban Studies & Planning at Portland State University, where she also serves as director of the Center for Urban Studies (CUS) and assistant director of the Northwest Economic Research Center (NERC). She holds a PhD in Agricultural & Resource Economics from UC Berkeley.

Dr. Liu’s research centers on the intersection of sustainability, economic development, and public policy. She examines how sustainable urban interventions, transportation investments and policies, and urban planning decisions—such as active transportation infrastructure, green spaces, and clean energy initiatives—impact economies and communities. Another key area of her teaching and research involves state and local public finance, exploring topics such as property tax systems, public budgeting, and fiscal impacts of urban policies. Since 2020, she has also served on the Oregon Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors. Her full profile can be accessed here.

Ben has served as assistant director of the Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research at Georgia Southern University since January 2018. In addition to this role, he served as project manager for Georgia Southern’s EDA University Center, a research project/grant funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and was a member of Georgia Southern’s Business Innovation Group. The CBAER conducts applied research related to community and business development across the state of Georgia and beyond, helping communities and business leaders mitigate risks, recognize opportunities and develop strategic plans that help discover trends, statistics and facts that matter to their community and business.

McKay earned a master’s in business administration (2014) from Georgia Southern; a master’s of public administration (2006); bachelor of arts in political science (2002); and a bachelor of science degree (2002) from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. McKay previously served on the AUBER board from 2017-2019.

Rod is assistant director of the Economic and Public Policy Research group (EPPR) of the UMass Donahue Institute. At EPPR, Motamedi oversees 20 full-time staff who focus on demographics, economic and policy impact analysis, economic development and regional competitiveness, housing, and industry footprint studies. Prior to joining the Donahue Institute in 2015, Motamedi was senior economic associate at Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) where, for over seven years, he led client training and support, business development, and consulting efforts.

Motamedi received his MBA from University of Massachusetts Amherst with a focus in business analytics and a bachelor’s of arts in economics also from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Sarah earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Louisiana State University. Her research covers a range of microeconomic topics from wine to sports to identifying and measuring discrimination in American court proceedings. All of these topics are reliant on the idea of using data to answer challenging and interesting questions. Dr. Quintanar has taught quantitative and qualitative courses in economics and data analytics for over 10 years.

Prior to joining UNT, she worked as a financial consultant in the corporate world. She is also passionate about her work with practical application of data and economics to assist business and government leaders regarding policy impact in economic development.

Manuel joined the Hibbs Institute for Business and Economic Research at University of Texas at Tyler in 2018 as a senior research analyst. He previously worked for the Mexican Secretary of Economy, the Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness at University of Texas at El Paso, the Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University, the Center for Economic Development and Research at University of North Texas, and the Institute for Policy and Economic Development at University of Texas at El Paso. Manuel earned a PhD in Economic Development (specializing in public finance) from New Mexico State University and is currently pursuing a MS in Health Sciences at University of Texas at Tyler. Manuel also holds a BBA in International Business and an MBA from the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Chihuahua, and MS in Economics from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Raymond is the director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research and Professor of Economics at Chapman University. He served 18 years as associate provost and then as vice chancellor. Dr. Sfeir teaches microeconomics, statistics and forecasting. His research interests include operations research, capital asset pricing models and applied economics. Sfeir produces the California, Orange County and Inland Empire forecasts. Dr. Sfeir has a PhD in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Full bio.