Patrick Adler is Manager of Sustainable Growth and Development at the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development. He provides guidance on the Center’s core projects surrounding workforce development and economic development strategy. In addition to his role at the Center, he is also the Sustainable Growth and Development Manager at Beacon Economics. His current work portfolio includes developing a growth action plan for the City of Industry’s manufacturing sector, creating an economic development and revitalization study for the City of San Bernardino, and building an economic development plan that will deliver a roadmap for economic growth in the Walker River Corridor for the County of Lyon, Nevada.

Prior to joining the Center, Patrick conducted economic development engagements with municipalities and regional planning agencies in the United States and Canada. His consulting work focuses on identifying promising industrial development pathways and building local capacity for transformative change through stakeholder engagement and consensus building. Earlier projects include conducting an economic study to support the expansion of a municipal airport, creating a workforce assessment for a community college system, and devising a technology transfer strategy for a research university.

Additionally, Patrick has researched broadly on regional innovation and entrepreneurship, and recently on firm headquarters location and the geography of urban technology. He has published academic articles in journals such as Regional Studies, Plos 1, and the Journal of Urban Affairs and has been quoted in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, and NFL Network, among others. Patrick is also a research affiliate with the School of Cities at The University of Toronto, where he worked full time before joining the Center for Forecasting.

Patrick’s dissertation research focuses on the role of cultural intermediators—curators—in forging creative ecosystems. As part of that project, he conducted a four-year study of regional exports to 237 American music festivals.

Patrick holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles with a specialization in regional development, an M.A. in Economic Geography, and a B.A. (with distinction) in Urban Planning and Economic Geography both from The University of Toronto.