UMD News Releases

DULUTH, MN — UMD’s Labovitz School of Business and Economics (LSBE) has announced the hiring of a new director for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), Monica Haynes. She replaces Jim Skurla, who retired in June after more than 30 years of service at UMD.

Haynes joins the BBER from the Office of Research and Planning at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, MN, where she was the director of Institutional Research. Additionally, she has extensive experience as a research analyst and assistant at various University of Minnesota entities.

Haynes has a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Statistics from the University of Minnesota Morris.

She begins as the director of the BBER on September 15.

The Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) collects, analyzes, and disseminates information regarding the economy of Duluth, Northeast Minnesota, the State of Minnesota, and Northwest Wisconsin for a client base comprised of public and private regional, state, and federal constituencies. It provides unbiased data and analysis concerning the economic viability of building, expanding, relocating, downsizing, and/or eliminating businesses, especially industry-specific businesses. The BBER is located in Downtown Duluth at 11 East Superior Street, Suite 210. Its website is https://lsbe.d.umn.edu/bber.php.

LSBE is accredited by the AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). Less than 5% of business schools worldwide have earned this prestigious distinction. In Northeastern Minnesota, LSBE is the only school to have AACSB accreditation.