Board Officers
President Ron New Mr. New has more than 15 years of investment banking, capital markets, sales and trading experience. He is a member of The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Municipal New Products Committee, Asset Backed Securities Committee, the Regional Dealer E-Commerce Committee and their Public Policy Forum. In the past he served as a Co-Advisor to the $1 billion in assets COLOTrust, a local government liquid asset trust. Additionally, he writes a 2x daily financial markets commentary that is distributed across the globe. Mr. New has served on the board of DABE since 2004 and from 2005-2008 he has served as president. He has participated as a member of the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate Committee for the University of Colorado Business Economic Outlook Forum since 2006. |
Vice President
Chris Akers Chris Akers has worked as a Statistical Analyst with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment for the past five years. He is the lead analyst in the Current Employment Statistics program and serves as a back up for the Local Area Unemployment Statistics. Prior to working for the State, he worked on the Census 2000 and also worked in sales, selling skis and insurance. Chris graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1998 with a degree in Economics and then moved to Colorado . In 1997 he took classes at the London School of Economics. He has been a DABE member for the past four years, has been on the board for two year and began serving as the secretary in 2009. He has served on the population forecast committee for the CU Economic Forum for the past 4 years |
Treasurer Lisa Strunk Lisa Strunk is an Economist at Development Research Partners. Her expertise is in economic analysis and research, including fiscal analysis and industry cluster studies. Prior to working at Development Research Partners, Ms. Strunk was a senior research analyst for the Colorado Health Institute where she worked on numerous health-related issues. She also worked for the Child Health Plan Plus division at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing as a statistical analyst and served as an economist in the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting providing national and state economic analyses to the director and members of the Governor’s staff. Ms. Strunk is currently an adjunct faculty member of the Economics Department at the University of Colorado-Denver. In addition, she serves as both the Treasurer and active member of the Denver Association of Business Economists and serves on the University of Colorado Business and Economic Outlook Forum Government Committee. Ms. Strunk earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Pennsylvania State University . |
Secretary
Zak Brewer Zak currently serves as an Economist in the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting. He graduated from the University of Denver with an undergraduate degree in economics in 2006 and a master’s degree in economics in 2008. He worked as a policy analyst in the Colorado House of Representatives during the 2008 legislative session. He is also involved with the Organic Health Response, an organization that seeks to activate social solidarity, information technology, and environmental sustainability on Mfangano Island in Western Kenya to turn the tide against the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS across Lake Victoria. He also runs regularly with the Denver chapter of the Achilles Track Club. Zak is a member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society in Economics |
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Board Members
 John Backlund Mr. Backlund provides business financial consulting in the Denver Metro area. His business experience includes both commercial and investment banking in Denver and Chicago . Also, he has entrepreneurial background having been the developer and president of a nationwide bank investment marketing company. Mr. Backlund has been a member of the DABE for over five years. He is currently on the Board of the Rockies Venture Club, a local organization devoted to entrepreneurship and financing. Academic Degrees and Certifications: MBA - Kellogg School, Northwestern University; Certificate of Public Accountancy (CPA) - State of Illinois; BA Economics & Political Science- Southern Methodist University |
Steven Beckman Steve obtained his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Davis in 1982. He became interested in experimental economics after leaving Davis and that remains his primary research interest while he teaches international economics courses. He arrived at the University of Colorado, Denver in 1988. He has taught a significant percentage of the DABE membership |
Bill Harris Bill is a professional witness in energy and telecommunications regulation dockets before the Public Utilities Commission as a member of the trial staff. He has been with the Commission for the past three years. In this capacity, his focus is on assessing energy and generation resource forecasts and quality of service metrics. Previously, Bill was employed by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance as a Medicaid economist. Responsibilities at HCPF included forecasting caseload, requesting federal grant monies and overseeing $300 million in long bill funding. Bill also spent about nine years producing, analyzing and disseminating labor statistics and confidential databases for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Business Administration, concentrating in Financial Management, from Colorado State University |
Natalie Mullis Natalie Mullis has been one of the Colorado General Assembly’s economists since November 1998 and has served as Chief Economist since February, 2009. She received her Masters of Arts in Economics in 1998 and her Bachelors of Arts in Economics, Summa Cum Laude, in 1994. Both degrees were obtained 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. Natalie has been married for 15 years and has an eight-year-old son. Natalie has been a member of DABE since 1999, has served on the DABE board since 2000, and served as an officer from 2005 through 2007. Natalie also served on the Information Committee for the University of Colorado Business Economic Outlook Forums in 2007 through 2009. |
Chris Underwood For the last eight years, Chris Underwood has worked for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which is the state agency responsible for the administration of Colorado Medicaid, Child Health Plan Plus, and the Colorado Indigent Care Program. During his time with the Department, Mr. Underwood has also held the position of division director over various programs including Medicaid eligibility policy and operations, hospital and managed care provider rates, data and statistical analysis, and program integrity. In his current position, he retains oversight of the Colorado Indigent Care Program, which is a state program that provides partial reimbursement to providers offering medical care to low-income clients. In addition, he administers the Old Age Pension Health and Medical Care Program, School Health Services Program and several grant programs that target providers who provide primary health care to the uninsured. Further, he has responsibility for numerous projects to maximize federal Medicaid revenue and increase funding to hospital and clinic providers who participate in Medicaid and the Colorado Indigent Care Program. Mr. Underwood holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Colorado , where he also received his undergraduate degree in economics. Still maintaining his interest in economics, he serves on DABE’s board and served as president of the board from 2001-2004. |
 David Schwartz David Schwartz has been a member of DABE since the beginning of 2007 and has served as a Board member since March 2007. Mr. Schwartz is an Associate with Economic & Planning Systems, a land use economics consulting firm with practices in the full spectrum of services related to real estate development, financing of public infrastructure and government services, land use and conservation planning, and government organization. Mr. Schwartz is also active in organizations such as ULI Colorado where he has played a role in the ongoing discussions with the City of Denver on the economics of affordable housing as it relates to form-based zoning. Before moving to Denver in October 2006, he worked in the Department of Planning for Dublin, Ohio, where he also completed a Masters in City Planning at the Ohio State University. |
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