Dr. Jerry Parrish

Florida State University

Economist

Dr. Jerry D. Parrish is the current Director of the Center for Florida Local Government Excellence at Florida State University. He also works with organizations that are leaders in economic development and workforce issues in Florida, including The Able Trust and Florida’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC). For the past 10 years Dr. Parrish has served as a Faculty Adjunct in the Masters of Applied Economics Program at Florida State University and also serves as the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at the Haas Center at the University of West Florida.

He previously was the Chief Economist and Director of Research for the Florida Chamber Foundation. During that seven-year period, he was responsible for conducting in-depth analyses on the Florida economy and on solutions to help secure Florida’s future.

Previous to that position, Dr. Parrish was the Chief Economist and Director of the Center for Competitive Florida at Florida TaxWatch. Prior to that position, he served as the Associate Director of the Center for Economic Forecasting & Analysis (CEFA) at Florida State University. He has many years of experience in the private sector in management roles at international manufacturing companies.

He earned a B.S. in Agricultural Business and Economics from Auburn University, an M.B.A. from Bellarmine University, and M.S. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Auburn University.