SAN DIEGO—Leading economic forecaster James Smith, Ph.D. and economist Sam Chandan, Ph.D., will headline the annual Trigild Lender Conference, set for October 14-16, at the historic Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.

In addition to the headline speakers, top commercial real estate, finance and legal industry leaders will address hot button topics related to the economy, finance, commercial real estate and the lending industries – from CMBS maturities to declining and emerging industries – at the popular annual San Diego conference.

Smith will discuss where he thinks the U.S. and global economy is heading. A participant on the forecast panels of The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bloomberg News and Business Week, he is regularly quoted in print media around the world and has appeared on a variety of business news shows. He is currently chief economist for Parsec Financial Management, Inc, Asheville, NC; professor of the practice at the Institute for the Economy and the Future at Western Carolina University; and a senior fellow and director of the Center for Business Forecasting at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at The University of North Carolina. During a 30-year career, he has been an economist and analyst at the Federal Reserve Board; the National Association of REALTORS; Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS (SIOR); and Union Carbide Corporation, among others. He holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Southern Methodist University.