The economic forecast, presented by Sarah House, Senior Economist and Director at Wells Fargo Securities, highlighted how the current U.S. economic expansion has been the longest on record, but has also been the weakest of the post-WWII era, making the economy more vulnerable to a shock.

Drilling down to the local level, the forecast identified that growth and activity in Austin is cooling, but still remains strong. Unemployment remains low in the Austin area, which can tend to slow growth. As Sarah House noted, this is why the work the Chamber has done to educate, upskill, and ensure that Austin develops a skilled workforce is so important to maintaining a thriving economy. Currently, Austin has GDP growth three times the rate of the rest of country.

The event also included a cyber security panel discussion on how to stay ahead of data threats and protect your customers.

Moderated by Jason Kelley, General Manager at IBM Blockchain Services, the panel emphasized the importance of having a data security program and minding the basics. Lorenzo Alvarado, SVP, Global Information Security Officer Technology at PIMCO commented on the three “R’s” to keep in mind – ruins, riches, and regulatory requirements – when considering where to invest in security controls. Meanwhile, Alex Corley, Senior Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services reminded everyone in the room to mind their passwords and not to use easily-guessed options, like using the same password or password pattern for various vendor logins.

Thank you to everyone who attended and to our sponsors!