Association for University
Business and Economic Research

A national association of regional
economic research centers

New Member Profile: Hibbs Institute for Business & Economic Research

There are a lot of churches, synagogues, and mosques in Tyler, Texas. In fact, there are 400 different religious organizations in the Tyler Metropolitan Statistical area that employ 2,000+ people (more than 80% the national average) and produce $69 million in output.

That’s why one of AUBER’s newest members, the Hibbs Institute for Business and Economic Research at the University of Texas-Tyler, conducted an economic impact study and produced an issue brief on the importance of religious organizations in the Tyler MSA.

Located in the Soules College of Business at the University of Texas at Tyler, the Hibbs Institute opened its doors in January 2018 with the recently retired director, Rod Mabry, at the helm. Senior Research Analyst Manuel Reyes is running the center until a new director is hired (view job description here).

The Hibbs Institute helps businesses, regional economic development councils, and local governments expand business activity in greater East Texas. The institute became an AUBER center member this fall, and both Reyes and Mabry attended the 2018 Fall Conference in Salt Lake City.

Reyes first heard about AUBER at a U.S. Census conference in Austin where he met Bruce Kellison, director of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Texas-Austin. Another Texas connection, Tom Fullerton at the University of Texas-El Paso’s Department of Economics and Finance, helped get him engaged in AUBER. At the time, Fullerton was Reyes’ professor.

“It is great to be part of AUBER, Reyes said. “Having an association of university research centers that have similar goals and experience similar constraints as we have, or have had, is tremendously useful. AUBER’s members are always open to discuss a situation, provide insight and feedback, or collaborate in a research project. The conferences are so well organized that everyone learns from others’ experiences while having a great time. I am very glad to be part of the AUBER family, and I look forward to meeting with all again later this year in Savannah, Georgia.”

The Hibbs Institute offers a number of products and services, including:

  • Hibbs Outlook, a newsletter with economic, statistics, and business performance indicators for the region;
  • Hibbs Brief, a frequent one-page analysis of current issues;
  • Whitepapers, an analysis of economic and business issues in the region;
  • Monthly email updates;
  • Speaking engagements with regional civic clubs;
  • Regional economic data for the 23-county East Texas Region;
  • Expert project evaluation or cost-benefit;
  • Economic impact studies; and
  • Business contribution analysis.

Caption: The University of Texas-Tyler Hibbs Institute for Business & Economic Research is located in the Soules College of Business (pictured above). The Institute is a new member of AUBER.

February 5, 2019

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