The Meinders School of Business Economic Research and Policy Institute has split into three specific centers of research.
The centers work on funded research from outside agencies and are available to students for individual research projects and work study jobs.
The institute, located in Meinders School of Business, conducts economic impact studies, creates economic models, and analyzes policies to assist the local community. It gives undergraduate and graduate students a chance to apply economic research to actual businesses.
The institute has added another room with magnetic white boards from floor to ceiling on three of its walls. There also will be new signage outside of the offices to represent the three new centers.
The centers each have their own subject, clients and directors. Each director is a professor of economics in Meinders School of Business.
Russell Evans is the executive director of the Steven C. Agee Economic Research and Policy Institute and director of Regional Economic Forecasting, Development, and Policy Analysis Center. The center is dedicated to research that supports regional economic development.
Jacob Dearmon is the director of the Data Analytic Center, which customizes analytic solutions for each client’s needs.
Kyle Dean is the director of the Native American and Urban Studies Center. The center provides research to promote growth and of the Native American business industry. It also assists regional leaders to develop policies and reach specific goals.
“The centers just kind of serendipitously occurred,” Dean said. “I had done the first ever statewide impact report for tribes and just doing more work for them, it became obvious that we needed to create a center dedicated to tribal work.”
The centers specialize in applied economic research and answer questions from the government of Oklahoma City and other businesses. They specialize in questions relating to economic forecasts such as sales tax forecasting and economic impact and outlook.
Evans said the spectrum of questions revolves around something besides numbers.
“Essentially, everything we do relates back to behavior,” Evans said.
Steven Agee, dean of Meinders School of Business, proposed the institute in 2007 as a way to utilize a storage room for university prestige and resources.
Leave a Reply