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 2008, 567 new members have joined NABE. The first issue of two IdeaLinks e-mailed to NABE members each month includes a listing of new members. Here are selections from brief interviews, conducted by e-mail, with three new members:
 Rich Babson
Associate Research Director
Weingarten Realty
Houston, Texas
What is your current position (title and brief description)?
I am associate research director at Weingarten Realty and have held this position for eight years. My responsibilities include economic forecasting, sales projections, peer analysis, site selection, strategy consulting, and retailer analysis.
What is the main focus of your company or organization?
Weingarten is a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) focused on the development, acquisition, and long-term management of commercial real estate properties.
What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I have a BA in economics from the State University of New York at Potsdam, and prior to Weingarten, I was an economic analyst at American Stores and Albertsons.
Why did you join NABE?
I joined for the networking, easy access to data, and consensus surveys.
What drew you to economics?
I was interested in the ability to analyze relationships between factors and predict future outcomes for various scenarios.
 Daniel Flores
Economist
Econ One Research
Los Angeles
What is your current position?
I am an economist at Econ One Research in Los Angeles. In this capacity, I am asked to use my expertise in economics to research and explain a wide variety of issues and questions, mostly related to how specific markets and industries are affected by regulation and certain business practices. I have had this position since 2004.
What is the main focus of your company or organization?
Econ One is an economic consulting firm with offices in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Houston, and Washington. We apply our expertise in economics to answering real-world questions that often arise in arbitration, litigation, business valuation, and regulation.
What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I did my undergraduate studies in economics in Barcelona, Spain. In 1995, I came to the United States to pursue graduate studies in economics. I got my Masters and Ph.D. in economics from Boston University in 2001. From 2001 to 2004, I was an assistant professor of economics at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. In 2004 I moved to California to join Econ One.
Why did you join NABE?
A colleague of mine told me about NABE and the many professional development and networking opportunities it offers to its members. Also, I find NABE's publications and seminars very interesting. I look forward to using NABE as a way to exchange ideas and information with other economists and business professionals.
What drew you to economics?
I grew up in Spain at a historic moment when my country was undergoing profound economic transformations that led to Spain's joining the European Union. I discovered that economics was a very useful tool to help me make sense of those transformations and become a more informed citizen. I have always been a curious person that likes to understand how things work (or why they don't work!), so I am happy that economics has allowed me to make a career out my curiosity.
 Kate MacArthur
Director of Business Intelligence
Baton Rouge Area Chamber
Baton Rouge, La.
What is your current position?
I am the director of business intelligence for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC), a nine-parish (county) regional economic development agency focused on providing visionary leadership and taking decisive actions to propel our community to a more prosperous economic future. I’ve worked at BRAC for three years and have held this current position for the last two.
What is the main focus of your company or organization?
The primary focus of the business development group is the recruitment, retention, and expansion of business and industry in the Baton Rouge region. My responsibilities include marketing for our targeted industry sectors, workforce analysis, in-depth company research and data collection, return on investment calculations for all prospective projects, tax incentive analysis, and competitive position analysis versus our peer regions.
What are your career highlights and education--before your current job? What drew you to economics?
I graduated from Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pa., in 2002 with a degree in East Asian Studies and presented a thesis on “Reform of the financial sectors in Japan and South Korea.” It was the research that I conducted while studying abroad for a semester in both South Korea and Japan that drew me to economics, particularly the affect of politics on business economics. I furthered my education at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg to focus specifically on economic development.
After receiving my Master’s in economic development, rather than return to the northeast, I found a niche in both rural and regional development in the South. I was working in Hattiesburg, Miss., at a tri-county economic development association when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. In the months following, I performed extensive economic assessments of the various industrial, commercial, retail, and housing sectors and formulated pathways to recovery and opportunity. Six months later, I was offered the position of research manager at BRAC, as the second hire of a newly created business development team. I quickly created a demographic database, a site database, an economic indicators fact sheet, and a new website, while concurrently working on business recruitment projects. In two years of in-depth work within the Baton Rouge region, I now know the area inside and out and feel as though I’ve lived in this impressive community my whole life.
Why did you join NABE?
After being selected as the research committee chair for the state economic development agency (Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association), I was discussing with a colleague the most valuable professional organizations and heard about NABE. I look forward to participating and interacting with other members.
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