Welcome Aboard, New NABE Members!

Please join the NABE Board of Directors and staff in welcoming new members who joined over the last two months.  Since May 2006, 525 persons have joined NABE. New members are added to the on-line registry at http://www.nabe.com/mem/search.html at the beginning of each month.  The first issue of two IdeaLinks emailed to NABE members each month includes a listing of new members.   Here are selections from brief interviews, conducted by e-mail, with two new members:

Antonina Antonova
Assistant Vice President
Trust Company of the West
Los Angeles

What is your current position?
My current position is assistant vice president, job function: economist.  I am currently in  the Emerging Markets Research Department of the Trust Company of the West, responsible for monitoring and analyzing fundamental economic and corporate developments in select emerging (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) and developed markets.  My work responsibilities further include locating and analyzing data using various techniques and creating presentation materials and models using developed and emerging markets economic data for TCW's external and internal clients (fund managers and marketing personnel).  My job also involves working on several publications, including contributing articles to the TCW Global Snapshots Publication and producing TCW Global Snapshots Publication and producing the U.S. Economic Chart Pack Quarterly Publication.  I joined TCW in 2003.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
It is an investment management firm that offers a broad array of expertly managed investment strategies (U.S. equities, fixed income, alternatives and international) to individual and institutional investors.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I have a total of seven years of professional experience in U.S. and emerging markets, ranging from working on trade development with U.S. federal government programs in the United States and overseas, as well as private sector investment experience in my current job.  I have obtained my MBA in Finance, Strategy and Leadership, Beta Gamma Sigma from the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Business and Management at Claremont Graduate University, California and my bachelor's degree in International Finance and Management from Whittier College, also in California.

Why did you join NABE?
I had the opportunity to attend several professional development events offered by NABE, and really enjoyed the opportunity to interact with top economic experts and learn from them.  In addition, NABE offers excellent front-end information on key issues concerning the U.S. and global economy, making it an invaluable resource.

What drew you to economics?
I was attending high school and took many different classes ranging from arts to AP English, but economics has always been most interesting to me and it also came easily in terms of understanding.  I decided to pursue my interest further and was not disappointed.  Needless to say, this is a field that has many challenges.  You have to work fast and hard to be on top of things, but I still feel like "fish in the water" working in this field.

Ian Stringer
Industry Analyst
Association for Manufacturing Technology
McLean, Va.

What is your current position?
I am an industry analyst.  I oversee the production, administration, and development of industry benchmarking surveys, including several standard statistical reports for member companies and member driven research requests.  I was promoted to my current position in April 2007.  However, I have worked in AMT's Strategic Information and Research department for nearly seven years.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
AMT—The Association for Manufacturing Technology represents and promotes the interests of American providers of manufacturing machinery and equipment.  Its goal is to promote technological advancements and improvements in the design, manufacture and sale of members' products and act as an industry advocate on trade matters to governments and trade organizations throughout the world.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I graduated with honors from Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY) with a B.S. in applied economics and a minor in physics.   Following graduation, I worked for the Tompkins County Trust Company (Ithaca, N.Y.) in the trust and investment services department for two years.

Why did you join NABE?
To take part in the conferences and networking opportunities these events provide. 

What drew you to economics?
I like working with numbers and I like writing about what the numbers mean.