UM’s Patrick Barkey Gets Prestigious Award From National Group

Dr. Patrick Barkey, Director of the University of Montana Bureau Of Business and Economic Research, in addition to being the author and producer of the popular Montana Economic Minute feature, just received a prestigious award from his peers.

Barkey was awarded the Thayne Robson Award from the Association for University Business and Economic Research.

KGVO reached out to Barkey to congratulate him on the award.

“We've belonged to the association University Bureaus of Economic Research for many decades prior to my directorship here at the University of Montana,” said Barkey. “It was founded in 1948, so it's an organization of peers, I suppose you would say from around the country that run research organization similar to ours.”

Barkey described the collective work of the organization in studying business and economic trends here in Montana and throughout the country.

“I think the strength of our national organization is much like the strength of what we do here in Montana, in that we try to be very close to the economy, on the ground,” he said. “My peers across the country have done that quite well for a number of years. So it's been extremely valuable to be involved with this organization to gain insights, share research, etcetera.”

Barkey looked forward to the next project the University Of Montana Bureau Of Business and Economic Research will be studying.

“We are going to be producing the mid-year economic update,” he said. “We have participated in that event in the past with the Montana Chamber of Commerce, but this year it will be a BBER-produced program and we're putting together that program for early August. It's going to address supply chain challenges and the changing nature of the U.S. and State economic outlook. That's certainly a big event for us right now for a lot of reasons.”

Another project Barkey and his team are working on deals with the future viability of Montana’s electric grid.

“We're still quite involved in a very large project looking at Montana’s electricity reliability. We anticipate coming up with a public report in a matter of weeks. That's an independent assessment of the adequacy of Montana's electric grid to provide the needs for customers now and in the future.”

The Association for University Business and Economic Research is the professional association of business and economic research organizations at public and private universities and includes over 75 organizations across the country.