October 31, 2005

2006 Economic Outlook for San Luis Obispo County Topic of UC Santa Barbara Seminar

Jane Donnellan

The outlook for San Luis Obispo County's economy in the coming year will be the topic of a special seminar in San Luis Obispo being presented by the Economic Forecast Project of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The seminar will be held the morning of Friday, Nov. 18, at the Performing Arts Center on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus. Registration and breakfast begin at 7 a.m.; the speaking program starts at 8 a.m. and will conclude before noon.

The UCSB Economic Forecast Project is a research unit that provides regional economic data, analysis, and forecasts to the community.

Dr. Bill Watkins, executive director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project and a former research economist at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., will review the performance of the local, state, and national economies in 2005 and offer his outlook for the county's economy in 2006. Other speakers for the half-day seminar:

· Dan Walters, syndicated columnist

Walters has been a journalist for over 40 years. In 1981 he began writing California's only daily newspaper column devoted to political, economic, and social trends in the state. His syndicated column now appears in more than 50 California newspapers. The title of his talk: "After the Earthquake."

· Lloyd Dean, President/CEO, Catholic Healthcare West (CHW)

Dean is responsible for the overall management, strategy and direction of CHW's integrated health care system of 40 acute-care hospitals, two medical practice groups, 40,000 employees and more than 7,500 physicians in California, Arizona and Nevada.

In 2004 he was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth. His talk is titled: "CEO Perspective: The State of Health Care --- San Luis Obispo County and Beyond."

Admission to the seminar is $135 per person and includes a copy of the book, "The 2006 San Luis Obispo County Economic Outlook," featuring more than 175 pages of data, analysis, graphs, and tables. (The volume retails for $106.86 per copy, including tax.)

Register for the seminar at www.slochamber.org or by calling the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce at (805) 781-2670, ext 220. Information about the UCSB Economic Forecast Project's other programs, publications, and research activities can be found on its Web site:

www.ucsb-efp.com

About UC Santa Barbara

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