Toby Tyler, B.A., Economics 1988
Toby Tyler graduated from SSU with distinction in 1988, receiving
a B.A. in economics. Through his work as an intern at SSU under
the supervision of Professors Steven Orlick and Stephen Lewis, he
received an award at the CSU Research Competition for his efforts
to establish school impact fees for commercial development in Sonoma
County. Tyler says, "SSU is where I first got excited about
higher learning. This excitement has carried over into my professional
career and continues to feed my life as a husband and father as
well."
Tyler was the first SSU graduate to be admitted to UC Berkeley's
Hass Business School MBA Program from which he graduated in 1991
with an emphasis in Economic Analysis, Finance and Management Science.
Employed by PG&E since 1990, Tyler currently holds the position
of director of business development. He is responsible for development
of all third party fiber optic applications to utility infrastructure
and negotiated contracts representing $5M in annual revenues in
1999. Tyler has held many positions at PG&E, including Director
of Restructuring, Strategic Planner, Corporate Planning, Pricing
Supervisor, Pricing and Regulatory Support, Resource Analyst and
Technical Intern.
In addition to his full-time employment, Tyler boasts an impressive
list of volunteer activities. Most notable is his role as the creator
and maintainer of the Sonoma County Economic Forecast and the Sonoma
County Indexes and Leading and Coincident Indicators. Forecasting
is not his job and he is not compensated for his time, insights
or data. He gives countless hours to the community as a donation
of his time and talent.
The unifying themes of Tyler's volunteer activities involve the
description and forecasting of local and regional economic activities.
He does this by collecting and creating economic data such as employment,
inflation and manufacturing and then interprets this information
in a manner useful for business and the public at large. His index
of leading economic indicators for Sonoma County, which is published
quarterly by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, was a project that spurred
from his work as a student at SSU. He continues to update the indexes
and frequently serves as the featured public speaker to a wide variety
of community organizations, including the SSU Economic Outlook Conference,
Chambers of Commerce, and private enterprise. "No other economic
forecast of local activity is as comprehensive and relevant as Toby's,"
says Stephen Lewis, SSU professor and department of economics chair.
Tyler has been a contributing member to the Bay Area Economic Advisors
(BAEA) since 1995. He provides analytical advice and economic interpretation
to a group of prominent regional economists. Besides identifying
the key trends affecting the Bay Area economy, the BAEA releases
a quarterly forecast of economic activity. This forecast is used
as input to regional policy decisions by organizations such as the
Association of Bay Area Governments and the Bay Area Economic Forum.
He is recognized as one of the leading experts on the North Coast
economy, employing skills and knowledge learned at SSU.
