COLORADO PANELISTS

Natalie Mullis is the Chief Economist for Legislative Council Staff. She has served the General Assembly since November 1998. Natalie received both her Masters and Bachelors in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Natalie’s primary job responsibilities include forecasting the Colorado economy, forecasting state government revenue, analyzing the fiscal impacts of legislative bills, and educating legislators and the public about the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, Referendum C, and the state budget.

Dr. Richard L. Wobbekind is Director of the Business Research Division and Associate Dean for MBA and Enterprise Programs at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He joined the faculty at the Leeds School of Business in the fall of 1985. He assumed his current position as associate dean in July of 2000.

As Director of the Business Research Division his responsibilities include developing an annual consensus forecast of the Colorado economy and performing various economic impact assessments of the Colorado economy. Dr. Wobbekind also produces a quarterly Business Leaders Confidence Index for Colorado and a Quarterly economic indicator series for Boulder County.

He participates annually in the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Regional Economic Roundtable and is a contributor to the Western Blue Chip forecast newsletter.

He is a member of the Governor's Revenue Estimating Advisory Committee, the Denver Regional Council of Government's Forecast 2035 Advisory Committee, the Colorado Tourism Office research advisory council, the Boulder Redevelopment Authority and the Boulder Economic Council.

For his efforts in community development and outreach, Richard was awarded the 1997 University of Colorado Bank One Community Outreach Award. In 2006 he was awarded the Robert L. Stearns award for lifetime contributions in teaching, research and service.

Richard teaches M.B.A. students in macroeconomics, public policy, entrepreneurship and managerial economics. He has received three awards for teaching excellence from the students of the Leeds School.

Richard has lived in Colorado for 31 years and has spent much of his time studying the development of the Colorado and regional economies. He received a B.A. in economics from Bucknell University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.