November 2012 Conference

Dr. Swift is the chief economist at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) where he is responsible for economic and other analyses dealing with markets, raw materials, trade, tax, energy, and competition and innovation, as well as monitoring business conditions and identifying emerging trends for the domestic and global chemical sector. Dr. Swift disseminates economic and societal contributions of the business of chemistry and general information about the industry to ACC member companies, the media, Wall Street analysts, the academic community and the public in general. Prior to joining the ACC, Dr. Swift held executive and senior level positions at several business research companies. He started his career at Dow Chemical USA.

Dr. Swift is a member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and is a member of NABE's panel of 40 professional forecasters and currently serves on the NABE board of directors. He is also a member of the Harvard Discussion Group of Industrial Economists and is a participant in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's forecasters' survey. Dr. Swift is also a member of the Association of Christian Economists, National Economists Club, Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals, and the United States Association for Energy Economics.

Mr. Swift has authored articles in such diverse journals as: Business Economics, Chemistry Business, Chemical Engineering Progress, Chimica Oggi, Cost Engineering, and Hydrocarbon Processing and has appeared on Bloomberg TV and Nightly Business Report. Dr. Swift is a graduate of Ashland University with a BA degree and a graduate of Case Western Reserve University with an MA degree in Economics. He is also a graduate of Anglia Polytechnic University with a doctorate in business administration (DBA) degree and has completed the Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting Program and other studies at Harvard University as well as studies at the University of Oxford. Dr. Swift is an adjunct professor of business economics for the MBA program at the University of Mary Washington. He is also a member of the Heritage Council of the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Kevin L. Kliesen is a business economist and Bank Officer in the Research Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He joined the Bank in 1988. From mid-2010 to mid-2012, he was part of the Supervisory Policy and Risk Analysis Unit, which is housed in the Bank’s Supervision and Regulation Division. He holds an M.A. in Economics from Colorado State University.

In his position as a business economist, he analyzes current U.S. macroeconomic and financial market developments and trends for the Bank president and staff economists prior to each Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

He also reports on and analyzes economic conditions in the seven states of the Eighth Federal Reserve District. In this capacity, he manages the District’s economic outreach activities. An important aspect of this responsibility involves managing the Bank’s Burgundy Books and developing various materials and information sources for the Bank’s outreach efforts. Another important aspect of this position involves speaking to the general public and professional groups about U.S. and Eighth District economic and developments. He has written and published extensively and developed (with his former colleague, Doug Smith) the St. Louis Financial Stress Index.

In addition to his responsibilities at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, he has taught part-time for the Department of Economics at Washington University in St. Louis since 2006. Professionally, he is a member of the American Economic Association, the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), and the Association of Christian Economists. In September 2011, he was recognized as a NABE Fellow, one of the organization’s highest honors.

Stewart Calhoun is an Executive Director in Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group, the firm’s nationwide investment sales division. With his partner David Meline, Mr. Calhoun is a principal with the Southeast Capital Market Group and specializes in the disposition of office and industrial investment properties throughout the seven-state southeastern United States region. Mr. Calhoun has 17 years of real estate experience in investment sales, development and law and has been involved in disposition assignments of commercial investment properties valued in excess of $10 billion and totaling more than 100 MSF for such clients as Apollo, Blackstone, Duke, Equity Office Properties, First Industrial, GE, ING,JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, ProLogis, Panattoni, Prudential, RREEF, TIAA-CREF, and USAA.

Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Mr. Calhoun was a commercial developer with Carter & Associates in Atlanta from 1994 through 1999. At Carter, Mr. Calhoun directed the development of properties throughout the eastern United States, including speculative office and mixed-use properties,
build-to-suit office properties for such clients as SunTrust Bank and BellSouth, and hotel properties in joint venture with such clients as Bass Hotels & Resorts.

From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Calhoun was associated with the Atlanta-based law firm of Lokey & Bowden,where he worked extensively with commercial real estate matters. Mr. Calhoun earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1994 with a concentration in transactional and commercial law. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Cum Laude from the University of Georgia Honors Program with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990.