PNREC Background
The Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference is a non-profit organization that was established in 1966 to promote research and education on the economy of the Pacific Northwest states and Western Canada. The goals of PNREC are:
• To present a program of professional papers, panels and symposiums that relate to current and forecast economic conditions and trends, structural changes in the economy, formulation of public policy, and the ties that bind this region to others.
• To create an occasion for distinguished economists and policy analysts from elsewhere to visit the Pacific Northwest and to play a featured role at the conference.
• To provide a forum for academic, business, and government economists and other regional analysts to meet and interact professionally.
• To introduce and share current regional economic research with students, business and community leaders.
The PNREC Board of Directors is comprised of economists and regional analysts from the states of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta (with occasional participation from Alaska and northern California). They represent a cross section of professionals from academia, business, government, and consulting organizations in both countries.
Readers of this history of PNREC will recognize that it shares many of the same issues and challenges as the National and Canadian Associations for Business Economics (NABE and CABE) and the regional/provincial associations across the country, and the economics profession itself.