2017 North State Economic Forecast Conference: Building Public-Private Partnerships
The 17th annual North State Economic Forecast Conference (Conference) was held at the Gold Country Casino Hotel in Oroville on January 19, 2017, hosted by the Center for Economic Development at California State University, Chico. The theme for this year’s Conference was building public-private partnerships and the pervasive need to develop innovative financing tools to fund desperately needed infrastructure projects throughout the state.
Keynote speakers included Dr. Robert Eyler, Dean of Extended and International Education, Professor of Economics, and Director of the Center for Regional Economic Analysis at Sonoma State University. Dr. Eyler’s presented his expectations of how the Trump Administration’s policies may affect the United States economy, and expressed specific emphasis on the potential impact of a trade war with China and other key trading partners.
Dr. Bill Watkins, Founding Executive Director (retired) of the California Lutheran University, Center for Economic Research and Forecasting, and Associate Professor of Economics, provided remarks about what California may be able to expect for the economy in the upcoming year, including addressing potential impacts of the Trump Administration’s policies and other economic trends. As with Dr. Eyler, he specifically focused the potential impact of the proposed trade policies and particularly in California. Dr. Watkins also illuminated the fact that California is home to both some of the wealthiest areas of the country and also some of the most impoverished communities, and this divide seems to occur between California’s coastline versus its inland areas. Many of the most impoverished and declining communities are within RCRC member county areas.
The final keynote address was provided by Peter Luchetti, California Infrastructure Bank and Founder of Table Rock Capital, LLC (TRC). TRC is an infrastructure fund that invests in transportation, energy, social infrastructure, water & wastewater, and communications. Mr. Luchetti delivered a compelling message about the critical condition of America’s infrastructure and expressed significant concern about the exponentially escalating costs required to rebuild and rehabilitate this state and country. Mr. Luchetti expressed support for the design, build, operate and maintain public-private partnership model as one of the most powerful, and overall cost-effective, tools to help close the ever-widening infrastructure financing gap. He concluded his presentation by challenging everyone in attendance to identify and close 100 projects in Northern California in the upcoming year. He also advocates for the creation of a “Center of Expertise” that would leverage state colleges and universities expertise to help build the business case for the respective infrastructure projects.
In addition to the keynote speakers, the Conference played host to eight separate breakout sessions that covered various topics of import for local economic development efforts. Full details on the conference can be accessed here.