thens, Ga. — Marking its silver anniversary in Atlanta, the annual Georgia Economic Outlook luncheon, hosted by the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, will feature two new speakers delivering the state and national economic forecast on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
Robert T. Sumichrast, who has served as the Terry College’s dean since July, will deliver the Georgia economic forecast. He holds the Simon S. Selig Jr. Chair for Economic Growth. From 2003 to 2007, he was dean of the E. J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University.
David A. Wyss will deliver the national forecast. Wyss is chief economist at Standard & Poor’s, where he is responsible for S&P’s economic forecasts and publications. He co-authors the monthly Equity Insight and the weekly Financial Notes and serves on the board of the National Association for Business Economics.
The noon luncheon, held in the Murphy Ballroom of the Georgia World Congress Center, is the state’s premier economic forecasting event. The first Georgia Economic Outlook luncheon was held at the Peachtree Plaza Hotel in 1983 and attracted a mostly alumni audience of 60 people. From those humbler origins, the Atlanta luncheon now draws more than 1,000 registrants annually. And the forecasting series has expanded its reach to a total of 10 cities around the state and approximately 3,000 business and governmental leaders in combined attendance.
The Atlanta luncheon will also feature opening remarks by Gov. Sonny Perdue and UGA President Michael F. Adams. The forecast will highlight projections from the Selig Center for Economic Growth’s 2008 report, including how the housing market, interest rates and employment will fare next year.
Statewide sponsors of the Economic Outlook series are the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Georgia Trend magazine.
Corporate sponsors include Crawford & Co., Frazier & Deeter LLC, Jackson EMC, AgGeorgia Farm Credit ACA, The Peachtree Bank, Peachtree Planning Corp., Porter Keadle Moore LLP, and Reynolds Plantation.
Additional community and media sponsors for the Atlanta program are the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Black Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the Georgia Economic Developers Association and Public Broadcasting Atlanta.
Following the opening program at the Georgia World Congress Center, the Economic Outlook goes on tour around the state, stopping in Augusta (Jan. 4), Columbus (Jan. 11), Swainsboro (Jan. 15), Savannah (Jan. 16), Jekyll Island (Jan. 18), Macon (Jan. 22), Thomasville (Jan. 29), Albany (Jan. 30) and Athens (March 5).
In Atlanta, registration fees are $80 per person or $640 for a table of eight. Fees include refreshments, lunch and Georgia Economic Outlook publications. Online registration is available at http://www.terry.uga.edu/exec_ed/programs/eol/. For more information, call 706/425-3051.