CAMDEN — By the Magnolia Banner-News staff
Southern Arkansas University’s Reynolds Center will host a Golden Triangle and Rankin College of Business-sponsored regional economic conference on Thursday, Nov. 15.
The Grand Hall event will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., with lunch served to those who RSVP’d in advance.
Speakers will include Dr. Michael Pakko, the chief economist and state economic forecaster at the Arkansas Economic Development Institute at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; and Ross DeVol of the Walton Family Foundation; as well as an industry panel of representatives from several industries in the Golden Triangle.
The panelists will give a brief presentation over their industry and operations in the Golden Triangle. After each panelist gives his presentation, a brief question and answer segment will follow.
Before settling in Little Rock in 2009, Pakko spent 16 years as a research economist and officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, where he published research on a variety of topics, including international trade, economic growth, macroeconomics, and public policy. In addition to his research and forecasting responsibilities at AEDI – including the annual Arkansas Economic Forecast Conference – Pakko is an adjunct professor at the UALR College of Business, and he maintains the Arkansas Economist website at http://www.arkansaseconomist.com/. Pakko received his B.A. from Michigan State University in 1984 and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1994.
DeVol is a Walton Fellow at the Walton Family Foundation. The program enlists subject-matter experts to conduct research and develop the best practices that support the foundation’s philanthropic efforts.
He studies national economic trends and how they impact the American heartland. He is assessing opportunities for regional innovation ecosystems which foster job creation, wage gains and economic growth for the non-coastal areas of the nation.
DeVol helps to identify the tools needed for a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem in the American heartland. He will work with universities, colleges, the business community, public policy leaders and philanthropy to analyze resources supporting the startup community and identify workforce and talent gaps.
He is also the former chief research officer for the Milken Institute, an economic think tank headquartered in California, where he spent nearly 20 years.
He oversaw research on international, national and comparative regional growth performance, access to capital and its role in economic growth and job creation, and health-related topics. He has been ranked among the Superstars of Think Tank Scholars by International Economy magazine.