What conditions are preventing upstate communities from experiencing a new wave of economic growth? That question will be addressed by Carl J. Schramm, an internationally recognized leader in the study of entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth, as keynote speaker at an Empire Center policy forum in Albany this Wednesday (June 5).

The Empire Center forum, which starts with registration at 9 a.m. at the Albany Institute of History and Art, will examine the economic decline of the upstate region and prospects for its revival, including the possible gains from natural gas exploration.

As University Professor at Syracuse University, Schramm teaches a course entitled “Failed Cities/Fast Cities” in which he takes his students through a consideration of the “micro” economies of each city and region. In his keynote remarks, Schramm will present a new vision of realistic planning for the region that could lead to its rebirth economically.

A prolific writer and speaker, Schramm is author with Robert Litan of “Better Capitalism: Renewing America’s Entrepreneurial Spirit” (Yale, 2012). From 2002 to 2011, Schramm served as president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation, a leading non-profit philanthropic organization. He currently writes about urban policy as well as economic growth at Forbes. Schramm is a Syracuse native who earned a B.S. in Economics at LeMoyne College, his M.S. and Ph.D. in economics at the University of Wisconsin, and also a law degree at Georgetown University Law Center.

Other speakers at the forum will include E.J. McMahon, senior fellow at the Empire Center, who will review the most recent economic data on upstate’s economic performance, and Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, who will present the findings of her report, “The Economic Effects of Hydrofracturing on Local Economies.”

Responding to those presentations will be a panel consisting of Kent Gardner, chief economist and chief research officer of the Center for Governmental Research; Brian McMahon, executive director of the New York State Economic Development Council; and Mayor Shawn Hogan of Hornell. The panel will be moderated by Mike Hendricks, editor of the Capital District Business Review.

For forum details and registration, click here.