DOWNEY, CA-Jack Kyser, the best known and most widely quoted authority on the Southern California economy for decades, has died at the age of 76. Kyser, who was a resident of this Los Angeles County city, died at home of undetermined causes.

Kyser had retired as chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. last summer and at the time of his death was chief economic adviser to the Southern California Association of Governments. Wally Baker, a friend of Kyser and a former senior vice president at the LAEDC, tells GlobeSt.com that Kyser had participated Thursday in a SCAG event called the Road to Economic Recovery Summit in Downtown Los Angeles and had been interviewed about the event on Los Angeles radio station KNX.

SCAG president Larry McCallon and executive director Hasan Ikhrata issued a statement saying: “Today I share in the sadness of many as we learned of the passing of Jack Kyser. He was a consummate professional, remarkable scholar and a dear friend. Southern California has lost a true champion in Jack.”

Kyser was the founding economist of the LAEDC, which in February 2008 named its economics research department the Jack Kyser Center for Economic Research in honor of his efforts in establishing and expanding the organization’s research activities. Before joining the LAEDC, he was chief economist for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and before that had also worked for Security Pacific National Bank, First Interstate Bank (then United California Bank) and at the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, where he was transportation economist.

Kyser was known to generations of reporters and editors as a helpful and informative source of information about the Southern California economy. He was popular with reporters because he always returned calls and he always returned them promptly, willing to provide a quick comment for those who were saddled with tight deadlines on last-minute assignments, but also willing to discuss broader economic issues in detail for more in-depth articles and analyses. Kyser was also a favorite with journalists for a variety of other reasons: He could explain complex economics concepts in plain English; he was an encyclopedia of knowledge about Southern California businesses and industries; and he brought more to the table than just an economist’s crunching of the numbers. Kyser could explain how pending legislation in Sacramento might affect the economy or how other forces outside of the local economy, such as a war in a foreign country or the widening of the Panama Canal, could have an impact on business and economics here.

SCAG’s McCallon and Ikhrata noted in their statement that Kyser, in his role as chief economist at the LAEDC, was responsible for interpreting and forecasting economic trends in Southern California and for analyzing the major industries of the area. “Utilizing this information, he helped develop job retention and creation strategies for Los Angeles County. Kyser's advice was frequently sought by business, government and the media,” the SCAG officials pointed out. In his work at SCAG, Baker notes, Kyser was part of a team that was working on economic development strategies designed to create jobs and ensure a stronger economy.

A native of California, Kyser was born in Huntington Park. He held a bachelor of science degree in industrial design and an MBA from the University of Southern California. He also pursued additional course work at UCLA. He served on the Economic Policy Council of the California Institute, the research and policy arm of the California Congressional Delegation. He also served on the economic advisers panel for the California Chamber of Commerce. He was a past president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Association of Business Economists; a member of Lambda Alpha—a land economics fraternity—and on the board of directors of the South Park Economic Development Corp. and the Building Owners & Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles.

In a statement issued at the time the LAEDC established its Kyser Center, president and CEO Bill Allen said, “Jack Kyser has been the voice of the Los Angeles economy for more than 25 years. He’s our region’s storyteller, and if there’s anyone who wants to know anything about the region’s economy, they’ll get it from Jack. His research is increasingly relied upon by the public and private sector throughout Southern California, and the new center will expand on our capacity to provide even greater insight into and analysis of our regional economy.”