Ohio Wesleyan University will host its annual Economic Outlook Conference at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 in the Benes Rooms of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave.
The free event will feature three experts who will share insights and opinions on how the local, national and world economies are expected to perform in 2016.
The conference is co-sponsored by Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of Economics and by the university’s Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship. During the conference, each expert will speak for 15 minutes and then respond to questions and comments from the audience and from panel moderator, Goran Skosples, OWU associate professor of economics.
About the panelists:
• Ben Ayers is a senior economist for Nationwide Economics. He works to support the company’s macro-consumer analytics and macroeconomic analysis functions. His responsibilities include understanding and analyzing the enterprise business drivers to assist the strategic planning process. Ayers holds a master’s degree in economics from The Ohio State University, specializing in applied economic analysis.
• George Mokrzan is the director of economics at The Huntington Trust and Huntington National Bank. He provides economic analysis and commentary to management and clients, giving them insight into the global economy and into the local economies served by Huntington. Mokrzan earned his doctorate in economics from Duke University, with a specialization in macroeconomics, international economics and econometrics.
• Mark Schweitzer is the senior vice president of external outreach and regional analytics at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. He oversees the bank’s public outreach activities and analysis of regional economic conditions. Schweitzer advises and informs the Cleveland Reserve Bank president and directors on regional economic developments and economic policy issues. His research focuses on the macroeconomic impact of the labor market and the identification of factors contributing to regional economic growth. Schweitzer earned his doctorate in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.