Area business leaders and guests are invited to attend the annual Indiana University Business Outlook Forum presented by Indiana University East Alumni Association, the Eastern Indiana Chapter of the IU Alumni Association and the IU Kelley School of Business.  

The 2009 Business Outlook Forum will be held on Monday, November 10 in Vivian Auditorium, located in Whitewater Hall on the IU East campus. Breakfast and networking begins at 7:30 a.m. with the panel discussion to follow at 8 a.m. The forum ends at 9 a.m.

For more than three decades, the Kelley School of Business has presented its national, state and local forecasts through a series of presentations in 10 Indiana cities. As in the past, this year’s panel will feature faculty members from the Kelley School and local panelists from other IU campuses and other universities, offering perspectives on the global, national and state economies and financial markets.

The starting point for the forecast is the Econometric Model of the United States, developed by IU’s Center for Econometric Model Research, which analyzes numerous statistics to develop a national forecast for the coming year. The center’s Econometric Model of Indiana provides a corresponding forecast of where the state’s economy is headed. The Business Outlook Panel then adjusts the forecast to reflect additional insights it has on the economic situation.

Panelists will focus their conversation on topics relevant to the economy for 2009. Panelists include Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business Research Center, Indiana University Kelley School of Business; Paul Lingle, president of Lingle Real Estate; Robert Neal, associate professor of Finance at the Kelley School of Business; and Bill Witte, co-director for the Center for Econometric Model Research and associate professor emeritus of Economics at IU. David Frantz, dean for the IU East School of Business and Economics and associate professor of management, will moderate the event.

Reservations are due by Thursday, November 6. The cost is $15 per person. For more information or to make reservations, please call Terry Wiesehan at the IU East Office of Alumni Relations at (765) 973-8221.