2008 - 2009 Economic Forecast &
Industry Outlook Coming Soon!

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 7, 2008

LAEDC Launches New Jack Kyser Center for Economic Research

The new center is named in honor of esteemed LAEDC Chief Economist Jack Kyser

Los Angeles – The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) today announced the formation of the Jack Kyser Center for Economic Research, honoring its longtime and highly regarded chief economist and adding to the research capacity of the LAEDC.

“Jack Kyser has been the voice of the Los Angeles economy for more than 25 years,” said Bill Allen, president and CEO, LAEDC. “He’s our region’s storyteller, and if there’s anyone who wants to know anything about the region’s economy, they’ll get it from Jack. His research is increasingly relied upon by the public and private sectors throughout Southern California, and the new Center will expand on our capacity to provide even greater insight into and analysis of our regional economy.”

“This is an incredible honor for me,” said Kyser, who also serves as senior vice president of the LAEDC. “I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I love for as long I’ve done it, and now to have this new center named after me is more than I could have ever imagined.”

The Jack Kyser Center for Economic Research will produce a number of important reports throughout the year, including the highly anticipated LAEDC Economic Forecast and Industry Outlook, the International Trade Trends report, and the Manufacturing report among many others.

Kyser was also honored at the LAEDC’s 12th Annual Eddy Awards® (Nov. 6, 2007) for his unwavering commitment to helping people understand the fast-changing landscape of the LA region. The Eddy Awards are given to companies, cities, and individuals who have contributed positively to the economic success of our region.

Kyser has been the chief interpreter and storyteller for the regional economy for the past 25 years.  His annual forecast report has been ranked #1 by the Wall Street Journal and his analyses of key industry sectors and economic trends have helped both the public and private sectors better understand the diversity and dynamism of the greater Los Angeles area.

As chief economist for the LAEDC, he is responsible for interpreting and forecasting economic trends in the Los Angeles five-county area (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties), and for analyzing the major industries of the area. Utilizing this information, he helps develop job retention and creation strategies for Los Angeles County.

Kyser is frequently called on by the media to offer his insight into issues affecting Los Angeles County, including labor actions like the current Writer’s Guild strike and natural disasters like the recent Southern California wildfires. In the past year alone, he has been quoted in more than 900 newspapers, television and radio stations. Last year, the LAEDC received more than 200 million media impressions, many of those from interviews involving Kyser.

Adding to the Center’s research capacity are the experience and insight of Senior Economist Dr. Nancy Sidhu, Economist Eduardo Martinez, and Associate Economist Candice Hynek. Together with Kyser they offer more than 60 years of combined experience to the Center.

Senior Economist Dr. Nancy Sidhu conducts economic research for the LAEDC's public and private sector clients. She specializes in regional industry analysis and forecasting, local area economic and demographic research, and economic impact analysis. In addition, Dr. Sidhu prepares forecasts of national and industry trends for LAEDC's economic research publications and delivers speeches to audiences throughout California. Dr. Sidhu has expertise in economic trends affecting the metals, chemicals, electric utilities, automotive, machinery, and construction industries, and served as vice president and senior economist at Bank of America where she was responsible for the economic analysis of selected industries and the Southern California region for nearly ten years.

Dr. Sidhu chairs on the Economic Advisory Council of the California Chamber of Commerce. She is also a member of the American Economic Association, the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), and the Chartered Financial Analysts Society of Los Angeles (CFALA). She has served as President of NABE's Chicago and Los Angeles chapters. She currently is a member of the Teaching Faculty in the CFA Review Program, co-sponsored by CFALA and the University of Southern California.

Economist Eduardo Martínez works on a wide variety of subjects including regional economic analysis and international trade and investment. Martínez appears frequently on Los Angeles area Spanish language news broadcasts commenting on economic issues. His experience encompasses a number of roles including that of a Macroeconomic/Finance Officer in the Office of Economic Policy and Summit Coordination in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and as an international economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in Washington, D.C., working on export and import price indexes. Martínez is also currently a part-time lecturer in the Department of Economics at California State University, Long Beach.

Associate Economist Candice Flor Hynek analyzes and manages several national, state, and local economic databases and works directly with the Chief Economist and Senior Economist to prepare economic briefings presented to several corporate and government entities. Hynek is the editor of the e-EDGE, LAEDC's weekly economic newsletter, and she writes the residential and nonresidential construction outlook for LAEDC’s Economic Forecast. With Dr. Sidhu, Hynek also contributes economic outlook articles semi-annually to slingmakers, the newsletter of the Associated Wire Rope Fabricators’ (AWRF). She has co-authored with Kyser a report on The Business of Sports in Los Angeles County. She serves on the Board of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE).

About LAEDC (www.LAEDC.org)

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), the region’s premier business leadership organization, is a private, non-profit organization established in 1981. Its mission is to attract, retain, and grow business and jobs for the regions of Los Angeles County. Since 1996, the LAEDC has helped retain or create more than 132,600 jobs, providing $5.6 billion in annual benefit to LA County.

[Editors: For media interviews please contact George McQuade, MAYO Communications, (818) 340-5300 or PR@MayoCommunications.com]