Fall Welcome Reception & Expo

Description

Ron Wirtz, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Presentation on Minnesota's economy
Real-time audience survey results from the Fall Welcome & Expo

The Fall Welcome and Kick-Off is ACEC/MN's first big event of the 2019-20 year. ACEC/MN is thrilled to announce that Ron Wirtz, Regional Outreach Director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, will be our featured speaker at this year's Fall Welcome.

Ron will talk about the current state and trajectory of the Minnesota economy compared with neighboring states and the US overall, and the importance of labor force trends on future economic growth in the state. With the current concerns over where the economy is headed and its potential effect on our profession, this presentation is extremely timely. Ron will also be conducting a real-time survey of attendees to get your take on the market and trends in the engineering profession.  

At the Federal Reserve, Ron’s primary responsibilities involve tracking current business conditions, with a focus on employment and wages, along with sector-tracking in construction, real estate, consumer spending and tourism. In this role, Ron networks with local businesses in a six-state region, both in person and via various communication channels, and gathers other traditional and nontraditional sources of information to assess current business activity. Ron also gives customized speeches on regional economic activity, and handles advance planning for regular outreach trips to Ninth District communities by Bank President Neel Kashkari. Prior to this role, Ron was the long-time editor of the fedgazette, the Bank’s regional business and economics publication, where he conducted research on such topics as employment trends, health care pricing and consolidation, housing, entrepreneurship, public pensions, income mobility, the Bakken oil boom and other topics.

In addition to hearing from our featured speaker, this exciting event is your opportunity to:

• Learn about ACEC/MN committees and activities for the coming year
• Get to know ACEC/MN affiliate members and learn about the valuable services they provide to member firms (Expo before & after presentation)
• Socialize with your colleagues
• Meet the ACEC/MN Board of Directors and staff
• Win fabulous door prizes