David Berson, the Fannie Mae vice president and chief economist, will speak on Northeast Florida’s residential construction industry and the economy Wednesday, Feb. 23 at the Bank of America campus at Building 500, 9000 Southside Blvd.
Sponsored by the Northeast Florida Builders Association and the Fannie Mae North Florida Partnership Office, a reception with continental breakfast is 8:15 to 9 a.m., and the program begins at 9 a.m.
Berson will answer questions following the presentation.
Berson is one of the nation’s foremost authority on the trends and key events that will shape the housing industry and economy in 2005.
The event is free but space is limited and reservations are requested. reservations can be made through Meredith Albright at 725-4355.
Free parking is available in the rear garages adjacent to Building 500.
Berson heads Fannie Mae’s Economics Department, forecasting and analyzing the economy, interest rates and the housing and mortgage finance markets. He advises Fannie Mae’s chairman and operating committee on finance, economic, tax and housing policy issues.
As a principal member of the Corporate Development Division, he is a senior participant in Fannie Mae’s strategic planning process.
Berson is a past president of the National Association for Business Economics, was a long-time member of NABE’s Board of Directors and has been on the Board of Governors of the National Economists Club.
He is a member of the advisory board for the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and the advisory council for the Business School at Howard University. He is also on the Board of Directors of Crossway Community, a transitional housing project for homeless single-parent families in Montgomery County Maryland.
He recently finished a six-year term as the vice chair of the Columbia, Md. town council and is the chair of the Adequate Public Facilities Committee for Howard County, Md.
He is a frequent speaker on national and state economic outlooks, housing and mortgage market conditions and economic and housing policy to the media and to business and housing groups.
Before joining Fannie Mae, Berson was the senior economist at the United States League of Savings Institutions, chief financial economist at Wharton Econometrics, Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and assistant professor of economics at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate School.
He has been an instructor in the business school at the University of Michigan and in the economics department at Villanova University.
His government experience has included staff economist on the Council of Economic Advisers as well as positions in the Office of Tax Analysis at the Treasury Department and in the Office of the Special Trade Representative.