On March 14, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Civic Federation hosted a half-day conference on the subject of public-private partnerships (P3s) to provide state and local governments with actionable ideas on alternatives to their current delivery of services. To download materials and presentations from the conference, please visit this link.
The conference started with a welcome from William Testa, Vice President and Director of Regional Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, followed by opening remarks from Dr. Charles Wheelan, Senior Lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
Following opening remarks, the first panel “Does Managed Competition Generate Better Service?” focused on the rationale for managed competition programs and explored what kinds of government activities are best suited for competitive service delivery. Moderating the panel was Rick Mattoon, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Panelists included William Abolt, Chicago District Manager at Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, Inc.; Alexandra Holt, Budget Director of the City of Chicago; Commissioner Thomas Byrne of the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation and Edward Hogan, Partner at Hogan Marren, Ltd.
Edward Hogan of Hogan Marren, Ltd. speaks during Panel 1. (From L to R) Rick Mattoon (moderator), William Abolt, Alexandra Holt and Thomas Byrne.
After a short break, the second panel “Public-Private Partnerships Done Right” was moderated by John Schmidt, partner at Mayer Brown, LLP. The panel discussed areas in which public-private partnerships can be beneficial, how they should be structured and managed and how governments should decide whether to use them. Panelists included Phillip Washington, General Manager of Denver’s Regional Transportation District; Ted Hamer, Director in KPMG’s Global Infrastructure advisory practice and Nathan Flynn, Director in the Infrastructure Investment Banking department of William Blair & Company.
Ted Hamer of KPMG speaks during Panel 2. (From L to R) Moderator John Schmidt, Phillip Washington and Nathan Flynn.
The conference concluded with a luncheon featuring a keynote address by Robert Rivkin, General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mr. Rivkin discussed global trends in transportation infrastructure and provided an overview of federal transportation policy and its local and regional implications.
Robert Rivkin, General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Civic Federation would like to thank all of the moderators and panelists for sharing their expertise and time. We also deeply appreciate the hospitality and assistance of Bill Testa, Rick Mattoon and the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Thank you!
(From L to R) former Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan, Susan Lichtenstein, Robert Rivkin and Civic Federation President Laurence Msall.