The Fort Smith Regional Economic Outlook Forum on July 10 at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith will include a presentation from Kevin L. Kliesen, business economist and research officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

 

The luncheon forum, hosted by UAFS and Arvest Bank, will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Reynolds Room of the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center, according to Dr. Kermit W. Kuehn of Fort Smith, director of the Center for Business Research and Economic Development at UAFS. Kuehn will give an update on the regional economy as part of the forum.

 

Kuehn stated that Kliesen’s presentation will focus on the performance of the U.S. economy to date, as well as look at the prospects for the economy for the balance of the year.

 

Kliesen said he is looking forward to the July economic forum at UAFS.

 

“I hope to provide attendees with an overview of the U.S. and regional economic outlook and briefly discuss the Federal Reserve’s ‘exit strategy,’” stated Kliesen.

 

In addition to updating participants on the area economy, Kuehn will also highlight the findings of the most recent research by the center on economic clusters, giving some implications of this research. This study is to be reported in the forthcoming Fort Smith Regional Economic Outlook Report to be released by mid-June.

 

Craig Rivaldo, Arvest Bank president, stated, “I’m really looking forward to this mid-year forum. I think our presenters represent unique perspectives on what’s going on in the economy and hopefully that will provoke some good discussion.”

 

According to Kuehn, previous semi-annual forums have seen approximately 100 people in attendance.

 

Kuehn said, “After a relatively strong five months so far in 2013, as far as stock market performance and several key performance measures of the U.S. economy, there’s increasing uneasiness as to what will happen as we head into the second half of the year. Now seems like a perfect time to talk about what’s next.”

 

Tickets for the luncheon are $15, with reservations required by July 8. To register, contact the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce at 479-783-3111 or emailwhitney@fortsmithchamber.com.