Horizons Economic Forecast 2022

Date and Time

Wednesday Jan 26, 2022
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST

Location

Swapcard meeting link will be sent prior to event.
"Network, visit expo booths and watch this year's Horizons Economic Forecast via the Swapcard virtual event platform. This simple to navigate virtual environment allows you to chat and also video chat with attendees and sponsor booths. Make connections and build your contact list. All connections made can be downloaded and easily uploaded to your CRM after the event. Don't miss out on this great virtual networking opportunity and insightful economic forecast."

Fees/Admission

$40 - Chamber Members
$50 - Non-Chamber Member

Refunds and credits for registration cancellations will be made only if requested more than 5 business days prior to this event. Substitutions are welcome at anytime.

Contact Information

Alison Bryan
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Horizons Economic Forecast 2022

Description

Registration is now closed.

Join us for the 2022 Horizons Economic Forecast because planning for the coming year has never been more important. At the Horizons Economic Forecast, we will help you decipher economic trends including labor, income, retail, housing, and more! This virtual event highlights the economic state of the South Sound. Local, and regional forecasts will be covered in the Pierce County Economic Index report. And national economic forecasts will be discussed by Curtis Dubay, a Senior Economist at the US Chamber of Commerce. For those who want to make informed business decisions, Horizons 2022 is a not-to-miss event.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Curtis Dubay, Senior Economist, US Chamber of Commerce
Curtis Dubay, senior economist in the Economic Policy Division at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, tracks the condition of the economy, analyzes the impact of public policy on economic growth, and runs the Chambers Chief Economists Committee. The committee consists of chief economists from member businesses. It helps the Chamber formulate economic policies and provides analysis to policymakers in Washington, D.C.
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PIERCE COUNTY UPDATE

Bruce Dammeier, County Executive, Pierce County
A Pierce County native, Executive Dammeier attended Curtis High School before going on to graduate with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy and serve eight years as a Civil Engineer Corps Officer. While on active duty, he was deployed on humanitarian relief missions in the United States and across the world. At the conclusion of his military service, he returned to Washington State and became a dedicated community volunteer. Bruce and Lauren, his wife of more than 35 years, live in Puyallup. They have three grown sons.
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CONGRESSIONAL UPDATES

Derek Kilmer, U.S Representative, WA 6th District
Derek Kilmer serves as the United States Representative of Washington's 6th Congressional District.
With over a decade of experience working in economic development in the Puget Sound region, Derek Kilmer is focused on getting our economy and our Congress back to work. Derek has a strong record as a problem solver for Washington families and he's been recognized by veterans organizations for his support of our troops, their families, and those who have served. As the dad of two little girls, he is working to make sure all our children receive a quality education. He is committed to honoring our promises to seniors by protecting Social Security and Medicare. Derek grew up on the Olympic Peninsula and had worked to promote local economic development and to be responsible stewards of our natural resources.
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Marilyn Strickland, U.S. Representative, WA 10th District
Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland proudly represents Washingtons 10th Congressional District, which covers Pierce County, Thurston County and parts of Mason County. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Strickland is the first African-American to represent Washington State at the federal level, and the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress in its 230-year history.
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PORT OF TACOMA UPDATE

Deanna Keller, Commissioner, Port of Tacoma
Deanna Keller is a native Washingtonian and longtime Pierce County resident. Keller is a Marine Corps veteran who served for five years in the Presidents Own United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelors degree, a masters degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and worked toward a doctorate degree at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Keller was the co-owner of Kel-Tech Plastics Inc., a Tacoma-based custom plastics fabricator and served as its CEO and president from 2008 to 2020. Prior to Kel-Tech, she held a variety of positions over her 24-year career with the Puyallup and Clover Park School Districts, including high school teacher, district program administrator and school principal.
Keller has been active as a business advisor for Tacoma School Districts middle school STEM program and worked with the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County on its Place for Jobs initiative. She served on the board of trustees of the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts (now Tacoma Arts Live) for eight years. She participates as a member of the Transportation Club of Tacoma, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Tacoma Propeller Club, Rotary Club of Gig Harbor and the Northwest Marine Trade Association.
Keller is focused on economic development and recovery working to ensure that there is equal access and training for career, family-wage jobs in Pierce County. As a former business owner, she is committed to responsible environmental stewardship practices that exceed regulatory standards. A collaborative leader, she has been working closely with other local and state governmental agencies to maximize multiple agency resources.

BOEING UPDATE

Susan Champlain, Director of NW State and Local Government Operations for the Northwest, Boeing
Susan Champlain is director of Government Operations for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. She leads the Northwest State & Local Government Operations team, managing relationships with elected officials and business leaders in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Hawaii. Previously, Susan held a series of positions within Boeing including policy and state and local government relations roles where she developed company positions on public policy and represented the company in Olympia, Wash. She joined Boeing in 1999 as manager of Legislative Affairs in Washington DC, lobbying Members of Congress on international trade issues. Prior to joining Boeing, Susan worked for six years as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill focusing on international trade and defense policy. Susan holds a BA in International Studies from University of Washington and a MA in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PANEL

Elly Walkowiak, Assistant Director, Community and Economic Development, City of Tacoma
Ellen (Elly) Walkowiak is the Assistant Director of the City of Tacoma, Washington, Community & Economic Development Department. She has worked for over 25 years in land use planning and economic development. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, negotiating complicated, multifaceted development agreements, brownfields redevelopment, attracting domestic and foreign investment, acquiring infrastructure funding, and lobbying at the Federal and State levels to enable community vitality. Since September 2007, Elly has been involved in some of the most complex and challenging economic development projects in the City of Tacoma. She led the highly technical negotiation and pre-development activities on the $150 million Convention Center hotel and mixed use project the largest downtown private foreign investment in the City's history. In 2017, she won a lifetime achievement award for excellence in public service from the Center for Creative Land Recycling. Elly has an M.S. in Resource Administration and Management from the University of New Hampshire and a B.A. in Environmental Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh as well as professional certifications in economic development, finance and public management.

Betty Capestany, Director of Economic Development for Pierce County
Betty Capestany serves as the Director of Economic Development for Pierce County. Her department focuses on retaining, growing and bringing new jobs to Pierce County. Currently she is overseeing $30 million dollars of CARES economic stabilization and recovery funds to help Pierce County businesses receive resources during the pandemic. The department also oversees the Arts and Tourism boards and commissions. She joined the department in 2018.
Betty's career has focused on building communities with the knowledge that successful, supported businesses help a community thrive. Betty's work has been dedicated to having a deep understanding of how each community functions - its synergies, its quirks, its strengths and leveraging those to the advantage of the businesses she serves. Betty thrives on pushing the envelope, being the first to try out a new technology brings her joy and has her quickly thinking of ways it could be applied to the advancement of business.
Prior to coming to Pierce County Betty served as CEO of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce for 17 years; and prior to that the City of Renton Economic Development Director, Renton Chamber of Commerce CEO and Assistant Director for the Kent Chamber of Commerce.
Betty and her husband George have a blended family of 4 boys (20-25), two loveable labs and 3 blackberry eating goats. For fun Betty runs marathons (has done all the world majors except Tokyo) loves to travel, reading and entertain family and friends. Her civic involvement includes 30+ years as a Rotarian and Paul Harris Fellow. She is currently a member of Tacoma 8. She has is also a mentor and serves on the Milgard Women's Initiative Advisory Council, is on the Board for the Red Cross South Puget Sound and Olympics Chapter and serves on the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives Educational Foundation.

Tom Pierson, President and CEO, Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce
Tom Pierson has been President & CEO of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber (TPCC) since June 2011. Under Pierson's leadership, the Chamber has strengthened and built countywide ties with leaders of the community. His commitment is to ensure and increase awareness that the Chamber is the voice for business, helping the South Sound become the equitable and inclusive place to do business in Washington state.
Prior to joining TPCC, Pierson led the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce for eight years, helping them achieve four-star accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, managing their financial controls, cultivating the Chamber's overall performance, and doubling its membership base. His experience also includes working for the Metropolitan King County Council and the Washington State Senate as legislative staff.
Pierson believes the Chamber needs to be a catalytic leader in the community as well as a collaborator, truth-teller, and voice for business.
He is an accredited Chamber Executive; named Chamber Executive of the Year in 2013, in 2019 he received the Russell E. Pettit Award for Excellence in Leadership and is a member of the US Chamber Committee of 100.

Bruce Kendall, President and CEO, Economic Development Board Tacoma- Pierce County
Bruce is the driving force behind the EDB. He's an impassioned liaison to the board members and the broader community, enthusiastically advocating for regional economic opportunity in Tacoma-Pierce County.

EMCEE

Eli Taylor, Vice President, Banker at J.P. Morgan Private Bank - Chamber Board Chair Elect
Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Eli now resides in Tacoma with his wife, Lauren, and daughters Brielle and Zoe. Eli earned his undergraduate degree from Tiffin University, majoring in business administration with an accounting concentration, and obtained his MBA from Louisiana State University. He is a 2018 40 under 40 recipient and currently serves on the boards of United Way of Pierce County, The Pierce County Library Foundation, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, and in 2018, Governor Jay Inslee, appointed Eli to the Clover Park Technical College Board of Trustees on a 5yr term. Eli currently serves as board Chair.

2021 PIERCE COUNTY ECONOMIC INDEX (PCEI) REPORT

Dr. Neal Johnson, President, Sound Resource Economics
Neal Johnson, Ph.D., provides economic and statistics consulting services through his consulting practice, Sound Resource Economics, based in Tacoma, Washington. Recent clients include privately owned and publicly traded waste management companies and the City of Portland, Oregon.
Dr. Johnson received his doctorate in economics from the University of Washington and his master's degree in agricultural and resource economics, with a minor in statistics, from Oregon State University. He has taught economics at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, at Pacific Lutheran University, and currently teaches full time for Louisiana State University Shreveport in their online MBA and MHA programs.

Tom Layson, Managing Editor, KBTC
Tom Layson is KBTC's Managing Editor and worked in Yakima, Terre Haute, Louisville, Sacramento, Columbus and New York-New Jersey. Tom anchored 13 hours of live coverage in the NY/NJ market during 9-11 - just one example of the many thousands of hours he's been on set or in the field covering politics, natural disasters, courts and crime, economic development, personal finance and the environment. Tom won an Emmy for Northwest Now and is a graduate of PLU who currently resides in the Puyallup area.

PIERCE COUNTY ECONOMIC INDEX REPORT PANEL

AJ Gordon, Senior Advisor, Banner Bank, Emcee - Chamber Board Chair

Katie Condit, CEO, Workforce Central

Don Esterbrook, Deputy CEO, Commercial & Operations Groups, Northwest Seaport Alliance

Quincy Henry, Co-founder and CEO, Campfire Coffee

Deborah Howell, Chief Operating Officer, Workforce Central

Tamar Jackson, Senior Director of Community Engagement, Workforce Central

Therese Pasquier, CEO, Sound Family Medicine

Dr. Van Gieson, Medical Director, Sound Family Medicine

John Wolfe, CEO, NW Seaport Alliance - Port of Tacoma

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