Just over a month after California Lutheran University’s economic research unit received national recognition, the school has announced that Executive Director Bill Watkins will retire after presenting his final outlook for Ventura County’s economy on Nov. 10. He has served the college seven years. Watkins and his colleague, Dan Hamilton, founded the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting, or CERF, when they joined Cal Lutheran’s faculty in 2009. They met in 2000 while working together on the Economic Forecast Project at the University of California – Santa Barbara. In September, CERF came in second place nationally in the National Association for Business Economics’ annual Outlook Award competition based on the accuracy of its forecasts. Cal Lutheran’s 2017 forecast seminar will also feature an election analysis by Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters and a discussion of whether California’s tax revolt is over by the editor of Fox & Hounds Daily, Joel Fox. In addition to the annual forecast, Watkins will give a presentation on the history of Ventura County’s economy at the event on Nov. 10. To register, visit the CERF’s website at clucerf.org.
