Dean Runyan Associates

Dean Runyan Associates
Name	Dean Runyan Associates
Type	Private
Industry	Consulting
Founded	1970s
Founder	Dean Runyan
Headquarters	Portland, Oregon
Services	Economic analysis, tourism economics, transportation economics, policy analysis

Dean Runyan Associates is a private consultancy based in Portland, Oregon, specializing in economic analysis for travel, tourism, transportation, and public policy. The firm produces regional economic impact studies, visitor spending estimates, and employment analyses that inform planning and investment decisions across the United States. Its studies are frequently cited by municipal governments, metropolitan planning organizations, state departments, and advocacy groups when evaluating infrastructure projects, cultural institutions, and tourism marketing initiatives.

History

Founded by Dean Runyan in the 1970s, the firm emerged during a period of expanding interest in regional planning and urban redevelopment across American cities such as Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City. Early work included analyses for state tourism offices and regional transportation agencies, drawing clients from entities like the Oregon Department of Transportation, California Department of Transportation, and metropolitan planning organizations such as Metro (Oregon regional government), Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York), and Puget Sound Regional Council. Over subsequent decades the firm expanded operations to address impacts related to major events and facilities associated with organizations including National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, and cultural institutions akin to the Smithsonian Institution or the Museum of Modern Art.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the consultancy adapted to shifting policy frameworks exemplified by legislation and initiatives in states like California, Oregon, Washington (state), Texas, and Florida. Their work paralleled planning efforts tied to federal and regional programs overseen by bodies such as the United States Department of Transportation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and intersected with major urban renewal projects in cities including Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia. In the 2000s and 2010s the firm incorporated forecasting techniques used in sectors engaged by organizations like VisitBritain, Tourism Australia, and international agencies such as the World Tourism Organization.

Services and Methodology

The firm provides economic impact assessment, visitor spending analysis, tax revenue estimation, and employment measurement for projects involving airports, convention centers, stadiums, parks, and cultural attractions. Typical clients include state tourism offices, civic authorities, transit agencies, and private developers—entities comparable to Convention and Visitors Bureau, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Chicago Transit Authority, San Diego Tourism Authority, and Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. Methodologies employed draw on input-output modeling traditions related to frameworks used by institutions like the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Federal Transit Administration, and academic departments at universities such as University of Oregon, University of Washington, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Michigan.

Quantitative techniques include visitor origin-destination analysis, party-level spending surveys, and multiplier estimation consistent with practices from the Regional Input-Output Modeling System and applied research from think tanks such as the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute. Projects often integrate secondary data from sources like the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Travel and Tourism Office, and industry associations such as the American Hotel & Lodging Association and U.S. Travel Association.

Major Projects and Clients

Major engagements have assessed the economic contributions of airports, seaports, and major cultural venues in metropolitan regions including Portland, Oregon, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle–Tacoma, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, Miami–Dade County, Orlando, New York City, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C.. Notable project types include analyses for convention center expansions similar to those in San Diego Convention Center, economic impact studies for professional sports venues competing in leagues like the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer, and tourism demand assessments for destinations promoted by state tourism offices in Oregon, California, Hawaii, and Nevada.

The firm has provided consulting for transit projects resembling those advanced by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York), Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Sound Transit, and for multi-year analyses for event organizers of festivals and large-scale meetings comparable to South by Southwest, Comic-Con International, and Burning Man. Clients have included municipal governments, port authorities, chambers of commerce, and private developers aligned with entities such as PGA Tour host cities and major convention promoters.

Impact and Industry Recognition

Reports by the firm are widely used in public hearings, environmental review documents, and investment prospectuses, influencing funding decisions at bodies including state legislatures and local councils in jurisdictions like Oregon, California, Washington (state), Florida, and Texas. Their methodologies have been cited alongside research from academic centers at Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Yale University in policy discussions about tourism taxation, hotel-room assessments, and transportation funding. Peer organizations and industry publications such as Skift, Travel Weekly, and National Real Estate Investor have referenced their work in coverage of destination performance and infrastructure economics.

Professional recognition has come indirectly through adoption of their findings by award-winning civic initiatives and by use in funding approvals from agencies comparable to the Federal Transit Administration and state departments of commerce. Their studies have contributed to decisions that shaped urban development outcomes in cities like Portland, Oregon, Denver, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, San Antonio, and Orlando.

Organizational Structure and Leadership

The firm operates with a small-to-midsize team of economists, analysts, and survey specialists headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with project engagements nationwide. Leadership has historically combined practitioner expertise and academic collaboration, interacting with scholars from institutions such as Oregon State University, Portland State University, University of California, Los Angeles, and Columbia University. Staff roles encompass principal economists, senior analysts, data collection managers, and client services personnel who coordinate with external partners including accounting firms, engineering consultancies like AECOM or AECOM (historical), and planning firms similar to AECOM Planning or Arup.

Category:Consulting firms of the United States