Impact Center > About Us

About Us

The IMPACT Center was established in 1985 to address issues important to the future of Washington agriculture. In today’s globalized world, maintaining and enhancing the competitiveness of Washington agriculture is of primary importance to the State’s economy, particularly in rural communities that rely heavily on the State’s agricultural industries. IMPACT is well positioned to address these issues given the experience of its faculty and staff in working with agricultural industry representatives, its strategic location in the College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resources, the strong and positive presence of extension educators within the College, and the elevated prestige of WSU as an institution among agricultural stakeholders.

Mission: To improve the competitiveness of Washington food and agricultural systems in the world marketplace.

Values: IMPACT faculty and staff value and have a commitment to excellence; integrity; intellectual leadership and openness to ideas; a spirit of cooperation and collaboration with partners; diversity and creation of a positive workplace environment; personal and professional growth; a focus on the future, anticipating the needs of constituents, both traditional and new; being relevant and credible to the people we serve; and being accountable for our performance.

Comparative Advantages: (1) Nationally and internationally recognized expertise in applied economics modeling, (2) Demonstrated capacity to work in multidisciplinary teams, and (3) Trust and reliability gained among industry stakeholders groups.

People

Randy Fortenbery: Director, Professor

Dr. Fortenbery received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign in 1988. He joined the faculty at WSU in 2011 and became Co-Director of the IMPACT Center in 2016. Prior to that he held professorships at North Carolina State University and University of Wisconsin Madison. His research focuses extensively on agricultural price performance in local and national markets, looking at the impacts of new information on relative prices, as well as overall price levels. He is also engaged in studying the impact of futures price action on the stability of cash prices.

Timothy Nadreau: Assistant Professor (Career Track)

Tim joined WSU in 2014 as a Ph.D. student and later began working in the IMPACT Center where he conducts Impact and Contribution analyses for Washington State industries. His research focuses on improving the accuracy of the data and tools used to provide economic guidance to policy makers and the general public. His primary interests are in regional development and industrial organization. He received his M.S. in Applied Economics from the University of Idaho in 2011 and defend his dissertation in the fall of 2018.