UA Economic Research Center Receives National Honor

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Center for Business and Economic Research at The University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Commerce received national attention this week during the Association for University Business and Economic Research’s annual meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The center received the Award of Excellence in Print Publications for the 2016 Alabama Economic Outlook and Award of Excellence in Electronic Publications for the Alabama Business Confidence Index. CBER has been recognized for these categories in previous years.

The Alabama Business Confidence Index was written by CBER’s Viktoria Riiman, socioeconomic analyst, and designed by Katie Howard, senior graphic designer.

The ABCI is an index that aggregates expectations for the upcoming quarter in the Alabama and U.S. economies. Business leaders in Alabama are invited to share their expectations for their own business’s profits, sales, employment and capital expenditures, as well as offer a prediction for the statewide and national economies.

This is CBER’s 60th consecutive quarter recording the ABCI, a useful, forward-looking indicator of the state’s economic conditions.

Authors of the 2016 Alabama Economic Outlook are CBER’s Sam Addy, associate dean of economic development outreach with Culverhouse College of Commerce; and Senior Research Economist Ahmad Ijaz, CBER director and director of economic forecasting.

Other contributors include Anthony Bratina, Gregg Bell, Sarah Cover, Viktoria Riiman and Morgan Tatum.

The publication is an annual forecast for the state’s economy published each January and updated quarterly.

The 29th Annual Alabama Economic Outlook Conference will be at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. For registration information, contact Morgan Tatum at mbtatum@cba.ua.edu or 205/348-2946.

About CBER

The Culverhouse College of Commerce’s Center for Business and Economic Research at The University of Alabama has been Alabama’s key source for information on Alabama’s economy and its people since 1930. Visit www.cber.cba.ua.edu to learn more. 

Contact

Katie Howard, CBER, khoward@cba.ua.edu, 205/348-2950 or UA media relations, 205/348-5320