PROGRAM
Check-In & Networking: 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Luncheon: 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
Presentation: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Introduction by Bárbara Rivera Holmes
President & CEO
Albany Area Chamber of Commerce
State Forecast by Benjamin C. Ayers
Dean and Earl Davis Chair in Taxation
Terry College of Business, University of Georgia
Local Forecast by Peter Ajongwa Ngwafu
Dean, College of Business, Education, and Professional Studies
Albany State University
Closing Remarks by Bárbara Rivera Holmes
President & CEO
Albany Area Chamber of Commerce
Click to Download the Albany Program
About the Selig Center and Georgia Economic Outlook
Created to share Terry College's economic expertise with Georgia businesses and entrepreneurs, the Simon S. Selig Jr. Center for Economic Growth is primarily responsible for conducting research on economic, demographic and social issues related to Georgia’s current and future growth. Dedicated in December 1990, the Selig Center expanded the role of its predecessor, the Division of Research, which was established in the late 1940s. Through its range of projects — major economic impact studies, economic forecasts, publications, information services and data products — the center’s efforts help to guide business decisions and public policy directions.
The Georgia Economic Outlook, which was launched in 1983 by the Division of Research, was created to share up-to-date, Georgia-specific economic forecasts with Georgia's burgeoning business community. Over the years the Georgia Economic Outlook has provided unbiased, research-based economic data and analysis to the state's leaders and become a touchstone event for the business communities in each of the cities it visits.
Visit terry.uga.edu/selig and use promo code 23GEO40 for your free copy of the 2023 Georgia Economic Outlook
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ECONOMIC OUTLOOK SPEAKERS
Benjamin C. Ayers
Dean and Earl Davis Chair in Taxation, Terry College of Business
Ben Ayers is dean of the University of Georgia Terry College of Business and holds the Earl Davis Chair in Taxation. He came to UGA in 1996 and served as director of the Tull School of Accounting for nine years before his appointment as the college’s 12th dean in 2014. Under his leadership, the Terry College completed its Building Terry campaign, raising $121 million to support faculty, programs and facilities for the state-of-the-art Business Learning Community, located in the heart of the UGA campus. Ayers serves on the Board of Synovus Bank’s Northeast Georgia Division, Benson’s Inc., the CFO Roundtable, as a Trustee of Athens Academy and earned his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. Before pursuing his Ph.D., he worked for KPMG in Atlanta and Tampa and Complete Health Inc. in Birmingham.
Peter Ajongwa Ngwafu
Albany State University
Peter Ajongwa Ngwafu is a professor of public administration and dean of the College of Business, Education & Professional Studies at Albany State University. Prior to accepting his current position, he served as chair of the public administration program at the same institution, where he taught courses in organizational behavior, public policy, human resources management and public management. He has also taught courses in political science during his tenure at Albany State University. His research interests are in the areas of development administration, diversity management, social justice and policy and politics in transitional societies.
He received his Ph.D. in political science from Clark Atlanta University in 1999, with areas of specialization in public administration, American government and politics, international relations and African politics. He has contributed numerous book chapters and published several articles in professional journals. He served on the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs & Administration’s (NASPAA) Commission on Peer Review & Accreditation (COPRA) from 2017–2020.