Wachovia economist

to address Chamber

This year’s Annual Meeting for the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce will feature a keynote address from John Silva, Ph. D., Chief Economist for Wachovia Bank at 6:30pm on Tuesday, September 23 at the Hayes Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock.  Dr. Silvia’s portion of the program is open to the general public and all are invited to attend. 

The Chamber will host a social for its members at 5:30 in the lobby of the Hayes Performing Arts Center.  The Chamber’s Annual Business Meeting will begin at 6:00pm.  Charles Hardin, the Chamber’s Executive Director will present the Annual Report, followed by Bill Hall, Chamber President, who will talk about the Chamber’s accomplishments over the past year. 

Rita Davis, Chamber Vice President will set goals for 2009 and her presidency.
 Following the Business Meeting, the public will join Chamber Members for Dr. Silvia’s address, which will focus on the current economy.  Chamber members are invited to e-mail questions in advance which they would like Dr. Silva to tackle -- particularly those related the local economy -- to Rita Davis (rita.davis@wachovia.com) of Wachovia Bank in Blowing Rock.  

Dr. John Silvia joined Wachovia Corporation in February 2002 as chief economist. Previously, John worked on Capitol Hill as senior economist for the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and chief economist for the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Prior to that, he was chief economist of Kemper Funds and managing director of Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc.  John serves as a member of the Blue Chip Panel of Economic Forecasters. He is a director of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) and serves on the Economic Development Board for the State of North Carolina as appointed by Governor Mike Easley. He was a member of the Economic Advisory Committee at the American Bankers Association.  In the past, John has served on economic advisory committees to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Public Securities Association. 

In addition, John is a member and former Treasurer of the Board of Directors for The Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, a Charlotte civic association. He is currently a member of the Business Advisory Committee for the City of Charlotte and he serves on the President’s Council for Charlotte’s Central Piedmont Community College as well as a member of the Advisory Council to the Business School at Appalachian State University. 

John holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. degree in economics from Northeastern University in Boston and has a Master’s degree in economics from Brown University in Providence, RI.

  For more information, please call the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce at (828) 295-7851.