PHOENIX PANELISTS

Dan Bache currently serves as an Economist at the Office of Employment and Population Statistics within the Arizona Department of Administration. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Suffolk University and an undergraduate degree in Regional Development from the University of Arizona.

Alan Maguire is the President and Principal Economist of The Maguire Company, an independent, economic forecasting and public policy consulting firm. Prior to forming The Maguire Company, Alan was a senior investment banker with a regional securities firm. During his tenure, he was the leading financial advisor in the State of Arizona and served as either senior manager or senior financial advisor on over $1 billion in tax-exempt financing.

From 1983 to 1987, Alan was the Chief Deputy in the Office of the State Treasurer where he had overall management responsibility for an annual cash flow of $6 billion and an internally managed, fixed income investment portfolio of more than $2 billion.

He previously served as the Economic Advisor to the Arizona State Senate, in which he was involved in all legislation with either a direct or indirect impact on the municipal fiscal structure of state and local government in Arizona.

Alan has served as an advisor to four Arizona Governors, four Arizona Senate Presidents, and two Arizona House Speakers. His community organizations including serving as President of the Arizona Economic Forum and as a member of the Arizona Economic Estimates Commission, the Arizona Property Tax Oversight Commission, the Phoenix Economic Club, and the Arizona Economic Roundtable. He is past Chairman of the Arizona Town Hall, past Chairman of the Arizona State Retirement System Board and past President of the Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority. He is an original member of the Arizona, Western States, and Metro-Phoenix Blue Chip Economic Forecast Panels.

Lee McPheters is Research Professor of Economics in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and Director of the school's JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center. The Center specializes in economic forecasts for Arizona and the Western states. Dr. McPheters is editor of the Arizona Blue Chip Economic Forecast and the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast newsletters, published monthly by the Center.

His writings on the Western region have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Economist, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, and Newsweek as well as major metropolitan area newspapers throughout the nation. He has appeared nationally on Good Morning America and CNN news, commenting on the economy of the Western states. Dr. McPheters has published numerous articles in books and professional journals including the Review of Economics and Statistics, Land Economics, the National Tax Journal, and Journal of Long Range Planning. His recent research has emphasized transportation issues in economic development, with support from the U. S. Department of Transportation, the Arizona Department of Transportation, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Boeing, and other public and corporate sources.

He has been named a Distinguished Faculty Researcher in the School of Business, and received the Faculty Service Award in 2008, presented annually to one recipient for innovative and effective service. Dr. McPheters was recognized for the best research article in Economic Inquiry with an award from the Western Economic Association. He is a member of the National Association of Business Economists, the American Economic Association, the Western Economic Association, the Western Regional Science Association, and is past president of the Arizona Economic Roundtable. Dr. McPheters completed his undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University and received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. He has been at ASU since 1976.

Aruna Murthy currently serves as the director of Economic Analysis at the Office of Employment and Population Statistics. Her team is responsible for various economic analyses in addition to producing and disseminating industry and occupational employment projections for the state of Arizona. Prior to her current role, she has worked in the financial services industry, academia, U.S. Forest Service, and the World Bank in various capacities. She holds a Ph.D in Economics from North Carolina State University and a Master’s in Agricultural Economics from the University of Idaho.

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) was established in 1966, pursuant to Laws 1966, Chapter 96. The primary powers and duties of the JLBC relate to ascertaining facts and making recommendations to the Legislature regarding all facets of the state budget, state revenues and expenditures, future fiscal needs, and the organization and functions of state government.

Elliott D. Pollack is Chief Executive Officer of Elliott D. Pollack and Company in Scottsdale, Arizona, an economic and real estate consulting firm established in 1987, which provides a broad range of services, specializing in Arizona economics and real estate.

The firm maintains the most comprehensive economic database in Arizona, allowing it to accurately conduct economic forecasting, develop economic impact studies and prepare demographic analyses and forecasts.

Elliott D. Pollack and Company currently serves as the economics department for Maricopa County. As well, the firm serves a broad client base of both public and private sector entities that range from law firms and real estate developers to school districts and utility companies.

Mr. Pollack has syndicated and master planned numerous properties in Arizona through affiliated companies. He is recognized for his expertise in discerning the relationship between real estate trends and land value, usage and timing for improvements and development.

He constantly monitors construction, sales and leasing activity in the Phoenix metropolitan area, to determine absorption rates and anticipated time frames for market recovery. Mr. Pollack conducts marketability and supply demand studies on retail, industrial and residential properties. He also is an expert in the valuation of fractionalized interests in limited partnerships.

Mr. Pollack is widely sought after as a member, consultant and speaker for numerous economic and real estate boards and organizations. He also is respected by local, state and national news media as an expert source for economic and real estate matters.

During his career in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Mr. Pollack has undertaken extensive economic studies that examine real estate projects from a myriad of perspectives. Under contract to the Arizona State Land Department as a Land Disposition Consultant, Mr. Pollack provided services in the areas of land valuation, marketability studies, feasibility analysis, infrastructure cost analysis and commercial lease analysis.

He has developed models of real estate value appreciation for the Phoenix area that are devoted to analyzing alternative land use strategies for property and economic feasibility. Mr. Pollack served as Chief Economist of Valley National Bank in Arizona for 14 years, prior to establishing his consulting firm. His responsibilities included developing and maintaining the institution's asset/liability model and state and national econometric model; providing local, state and national economic forecasting to the Board of Directors, customers, businesses, industry and analysts; and serving as editor for Valley National Bank's monthly economic publication Arizona Progress and the annual Arizona Statistical Review.

Mr. Pollack earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Boston University in 1967 and a Masters in Business Administration from University of Southern California in 1968.

Steve Pritulsky is the Founder and Principal of Southwest Growth Partners, an integrated advisory services, land development and investment company based in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Pritulsky has more than 24 years of real estate economics consulting, property portfolio due diligence and land development experience that spans the metropolitan Phoenix area, Arizona, Las Vegas, Southern California and other markets throughout the Southwestern U.S. Steve most recently served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Newland Communities' Phoenix Division and, prior to founding SGP in 2006, was Vice President of Planning and Development for Pulte Homes/Del Webb.

Mr. Pritulsky has delivered industry insights to the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC) and the Arizona Economic Outlook. Steve has also served as a guest lecturer in Regional & Urban Economic at Northern Arizona University. He has been involved for the past two decades in the Arizona Economic Roundtable, a forecaster for the Western, Arizona and Metro Phoenix Blue Chip Real Estate and Economic Forecast Panels, and has served in various capacities the Urban Land Institute, National Golf Foundation, the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, the Maricopa Association of Governments and Valley Partnership.

Debra J. Roubik began her career as an economist at Chicago's Harris Trust and Savings Bank where she was also solely responsible for the bank's macroeconomic model. During her tenure, the bank was rated number one for the most accurate interest rate forecast and she also provided research and editing for the book, "Taking the Voodoo Out of Economics." Later in her career, she held the positions of vice-president of Stotler Economics, Manager of Revenue Forecasting for Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and Economist for DES, Research Administration. Currently, Debra has been the Chief Economist and Founder of VisionEcon, a consulting firm that specializes in analyzing legislative, governmental and economic development impacts on local economies. She has been quoted by Barron's, New York Times Service, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Herald, The Arizona Republic, The Business Journal, Tucson Citizen, The Arizona Daily Star and Today's Arizona Woman. She has been published in Chicago's Commerce Magazine, Phoenix Magazine, The Arizona Republic and U of A's Arizona's Economy. She also has been heard on television and radio programs such as KAET, KUAT, Channel 12's KPNX TV and KFNX 1100 AM radio. Debra possesses a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Probability and Statistics, and is completing an MBA in Finance.

Mark Vitner has over 25 years experience as an economist forecasting and tracking economic trends at both the national and regional levels. He is well-known and respected throughout the financial services industry for providing insightful economic commentary with a common sense approach to explaining economic and financial events. A frequent public speaker giving 150-200 presentations each year and also meeting one-on-one with more than 100 clients on an annual basis.

Mr. Vitners work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, USA Today and many other publications. Frequent guest on CNBC, CNN, Fox Business News, National Public Radio and the NewsHour.

Mark currently works for Wells Fargo Corporation, Charlotte, NC as Managing Director and Senior Economist. He analyze and forecast US macro economic conditions, including interest rates and monetary policy. Regularly meets with the largest and most important clients in all lines of business including Corporate and Investment Banking, Wealth Management, Business Banking, and Real Estate. Provides timely economic commentary, analysis and insight to colleagues, customers and the media on an ongoing basis. Regularly speaks at customer events, conferences, senior level meetings and with regulators and elected officials. Provides input for strategic direction of the company. Regularly writes the Monthly Economic Outlook, Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary, and special reports on consumer spending, regional economies, housing and commercial real estate. Developed most of the publications currently in use by the economics area and constantly innovating new ways to deliver economic content.

Is Productivity Too Strong For Our Own Good? (with Azhar Iqbal) National Association of Business Economics 2012 Annual Meeting. October 2012. New York. Winner of the NABE Award

The State of the States: A Probit Approach. (with Anika Kahn, Jay Bryson, Azhar Iqbal and Sarah Watt) 2012 American Economic Association Meeting, January 2012, Chicago, IL

Is Productivity Too Strong For Our Own Good? (with Azhar Iqbal) Western Economics Association 2011 Annual Meeting. July 2011. San Diego, CA

The Deeper the Recession, the Stronger the Recovery—Is It Really That Simple? (with Azhar Iqbal) National Association of Business Economics 2010 Annual Meeting and winner of the Edward Mennis Award for best paper.

Did Monetary Policy Fuel the Housing Bubble? A Modern Day Puzzle. (with Azhar Iqbal) Western Economic Association International 85th Annual Conference. June 2010. Portland, OR

Jack York has been working with the Employment and Population Statistics (EPS) Office in its various configurations for over 13 years doing industry and occupational projections along with other tasks such as the monthly employment report press release. Mr. York’s educational background begins with BA in economics and chemistry from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana and doctoral economics studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah with examined fields of specialization in econometrics and political economy.