Economic experts will explain energy prices, inflation, job growth, the national house-building slowdown and the effects of all these issues on Morgantowns economic future during a Thursday, March 1, conference at the Waterfront Place Hotel.

The Morgantown Economic Outlook Conference will feature economists Dr. George Hammond of WVU s College of Business and Economics and Dr. Nigel Gault of Global Insight, a national economic forecasting firm. Economic forecasts and analysis of the Morgantown Metropolitan Statistical Area for the next five years will be available.

We decided this year to focus on the growing Morgantown economy and the issues facing our region in the years ahead,said Dr. Tom S. Witt, director of the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research.

Witt will chair a panel of business and public officials addressing some of the emerging issues facing the region. The conference will end with reflections and observations by WVU President David C. Hardesty, Jr.

The conference opens at 8 a.m. and ends at noon. Registration costs $40 per person ($55 after Feb. 26). Student registration is $20 with ID. To register visitwww.bber.wvu.eduor call (304) 293-7884

Before joining Global Insight in 2003, Gault worked for six years as a senior global economist at Decision Economics Inc., providing international clients in financial markets with analysis of the major industrial economies. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and a masters degree in economics from Cambridge University in England.

George W. Hammond is research associate professor at the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), WVU College of Business and Economics. During the past 10 years, he has produced numerous forecasts and analyses of the state economy as well as many of the states regional economies. Dr. Hammond is a research assistant professor in the College of Business and Economics and teaches in the Executive MBA program. He earned a bachelors degree from the University of Colorado and a Ph.D. in business economics from Indiana University.

The conference is supported by: Centra Bank, The Dominion Post , The State Journal , _ BIZ Magazine_ , the Chambers Endowed Program for Electronic Business, the Morgantown Area Economic Partnership and the West Virginia Department of Revenue.