Welcome Aboard, New NABE Members!

Please join the NABE Board of Directors and staff in welcoming new members who joined in recent months.  Between January and November of this year, 418 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 four new members:

Aichi Amemiya
Vice President, Economist
Nomura Securities International                                                                    
New York City

What is your current position?
I am a vice president and economist working with the Nomura Global Economics team in New York City.  I was previously based in Tokyo and served as an economist for Nomura Research Institute and Nomura Securities, LTD.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
Our company is committed to delivering the full range of our resources to meet the needs of our clients as a broker-dealer.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I hold a Bachelors Degree in Economics from the University of Tokyo.   And I graduated summa cum laude with an MBA from Waseda University’s Graduate School of Finance, Accounting and Law.  I published two Japanese books as a Joint/co author.

Why did you join NABE?
NABE gives networking opportunities with other economists.

What drew you to economics?
It seemed to me understanding of economics was essential for decision-making on various issues in the business world. 

Dale Craymer
President
Texas Taxpayers and Research Association                                               
Austin, Texas

What is your current position?
I am president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association.  I took over in September of this year, after having served as the association's chief economist (okay, the only economist) since 1997.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?

We are a nonprofit association doing fiscal research and advocacy to foster sound state fiscal policy —working primarily on tax legislation and implementation.  Our members are primarily businesses with a large presence in Texas as well as state tax accountants and attorneys.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I have a Bachelor's degree in Plan II and a Master's in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin.  I served as the state's chief revenue estimator under Comptroller Bob Bullock and served as budget director for Texas Governor Ann Richards and as deputy budget director under Governor George W. Bush.

Why did you join NABE?
In these difficult economic times I greatly value the survey work of the association. 

What drew you to economics?
After two days of law school, I came to the realization that I would rather do something substantive and meaningful with my life—so I became an economist.  Seriously though, I believe economics provides valuable training on how to assess and analyze complex issues.

Edward Heler
Co-Principal
Heler Consultancy                                          
Wilbraham, Mass.

What is your current position?
I am co-principal of a small private consulting company, Heler2 Consultancy, along with my wife, Kathryn Carlson Heler. I am the economic consultant in the firm, but I also do some management consulting. For the past 10 years I have been an adjunct professor of economics, most recently as a visiting professor at Springfield College.  I have been an economic consultant for more than 40 years. Heler2 Consultancy has been in business in its current form since 1998 and I have served in the role of co-principal since then.

What is the main focus of your company and organization?
We are economic and management consultants with specific expertise in the economics of management, business and economic development, economics of disability and death, labor market analysis, strategic management and planning, and program evaluation for clients in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors.

What are your career highlights and education–before your current job?
I have served as director of business research at Northern Arizona University and assistant director of the Great Lakes Center at Indiana University, Northwest Campus.  I was awarded the Master of Philosophy and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Syracuse University, majoring in economics and sociology.  Also, I served as the state’s chief labor economist in the Office of the Governor of Arizona. During this time I conducted the legislative research for Arizona’s current Department of Economic Security, and introduced the idea of strategic planning for economic and legislative development, creating the first input-output model for Arizona.  I am the co-author of the only published studies on the economics of asbestos-related disease and death, “Compensation for Death from Asbestos,” published in the Industrial & Labor Relations Review, and “The Economic Consequences of Asbestos-Associated Disease,” published in Disability Compensation for Asbestos-Associated Disease in the United States.

Why did you join NABE?
Over the years, I have considered joining NABE, but for one reason or another I did not. I have been a member of some local business economic organizations, but not formally NABE. I finally decided that if I was going to work as a business economist, I should belong to the premier organization of business economists. And, after perusing the website and seeing the amount of information and data available through NABE, it seemed professionally foolish for me not to join. In the short period of time that I have been a member, the analyses on the website have already proven quite helpful.

What drew you to economics?
I started my working career in industrial management in an aluminum mill. Much of my work assignment involved labor relations and my education in economics and labor economics in particular proved to be much more helpful in fulfilling my work assignments. After being laid off from the aluminum mill, I obtained employment as a labor market researcher and analyst, and I was hooked on economics from that point on. The art and science of economics underlies all that we do in the fields of management, public policy, and everyday life. Why would one not want to be an economist?

Michael Reilly
Professor, Program Director
College of Business & Professional Studies
Ashford University                                                                                                        
Clinton, Iowa

What is your current position?
I hold two concurrent positions at Ashford University: professor and program director for the College of Business and Professional Studies. My professorial duties include teaching economics, statistics, and general business in both undergrad and grad program as well as typical academic work. My program director duties are administrative in nature and require that I lead the development of new programs and manage faculty in our online business programs.  I have held this position for two years.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
 We are a liberal arts university with a large business division.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I have held positions in other academic institutions including academic dean, program chair, and professor. I hold a Ph.D. in Administration, MA in Economics, an MBA, and a BA Economics and Public Administration.

Why did you join NABE?
 My interests have always been in economics and the NABE is a way to connect with the greater economic community.

What drew you to economics?
Reading Galbraith as a young man. I've always wanted to better understand how and why decisions are made.

Peter Wright
Marketing Director
Gerdau Ameristeel                                                                                  
Midlothian, Texas

What is your current position?
I am director of marketing with Gerdau Ameristeel, which is approximately a $10 billion revenue corporation with 10,000 employees and about 100 plant sites.  I have held this position with Chaparral Steel since 2001. Gerdau purchased Chaparral in September 2007.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
Gerdau Ameristeel is division of Gerdau SA of Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Gerdau SA is the 14th largest steel company in the world. All of our divisions produce rolled steel products for construction and manufacturing applications. In addition our plant sites include recycling of all manner of waste products that are steel based such as automobiles, white goods, and obsolete structures.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
By education I am metallurgist and a chartered engineer in the United Kingdom.  I moved to Texas in 1974. Career highlights are: member of start up management team for two green field steel manufacturing plants; Pioneer of micro alloy steel products that remove several steps in subsequent processing; developer of an innovative sales program for engineering steel that increased revenue by 400 percent in ten years.

What drew you to economics?
I was drawn to economics by the realization in 1998 that we are truly in a global market. The Far Eastern financial crisis of 1997 had severe repercussions on the U.S. steel industry. My company and the industry in general had very little understanding of the economic environments in which they operated both global and domestic. In 2000, after our majority owner decided to re-organize the management structure of Chaparral Steel, I re-invented myself as an economist (kind of) and set about understanding what really drives the steel business. In mid 2009, I established a Web based market update of steel market conditions that already exceeds 12,000 hits a month. ( http://www.gerdaumarketupdate.com/ )
This industry was fertile ground for someone with an advanced curiosity to learn and communicate information. I spend about 25 percent of my time today preparing and presenting market information to national associations and customer management committees. I am pleased to say that Gerdau Ameristeel enthusiastically embraces the information that my department generates and uses it for the strategic planning of future operations.

Why did you join NABE?
I was drawn to the NABE as another source of economic inspiration and I hope to have a long association with your organization.

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