Rupert Rhodd, Ph.D.
Dr. Rhodd has over 20 years experience as a research economist and consultant to the private sector. Dr. Rhodd has advised companies in the private sector on a variety of issues including economic impact analysis - a discipline which examines spending throughout the economy and the impact of that spending and litigation support on damages, losses and macroeconomic modeling.
As an economist, Dr. Rhodd has enjoyed a distinguished career, first as a research economist for the Army Corps of Engineers and currently as a tenured professor of economics at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Rhodd is also a managing partner in the community economic development and small business development consulting firm Rupert Rhodd & Associates LLC.
Dr. Rhodd has authored and co-authored many publications including several co-authored technical reports for Florida governmental agencies, such as the Florida Division of Natural Resources (i.e., manatee protection for Broward, St. Lucie and Volusia counties) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (i.e., regulatory costs of costal construction). Dr. Rhodd's most recent project is an assessment of the regulatory costs of the coastal control line in Pinellas County for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection - Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems.
Publications:
In terms of scholarly research, a few selected papers include: "The Effect of Real Exchange Rate Change on Output: Jamaica's Devaluation Experience", Journal of International Development, vol. 5, #3, (May-June 1993), pp. 291 – 303; "A Note on Q-ALY as an Estimator of the Social Benefits from Anti Drug Strategies", Journal of Policy Modeling, (June 1993), pp 329 – 333; "Birthrates, Economic Growth and Structural Transformation in LDCs", Atlantic Economic Journal, Vol. 21, #4, (December 1993); with Richard Cebula, "A Note on Deficits and Interest Rates In the United States", Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Vol. #33, #4, (Winter 1993), 439-445; "Modeling Import Demand for Caribbean Economies", Journal of Third World Studies: Proceedings, (October 1994); "A Macro Model of Growth and Devaluation in Caribbean Economies", Atlantic Economic Journal, Vol 23, #1, (March 1995); “Economic Development in a Transitional Economy: The Vietnam Experience”, Handbook of Economic Development (June 1998); with Dawn Richards-Elliott, “Explaining Growth Rate Differences in Highly Indebted Countries: An Extension to Thirlwall and Hussain”, Applied Economics, (September 1999), “Acquiring Resources Through Price Negotiation: A Public Sector Approach”, Encyclopedia of Public Administration & Public Policy, Marcel Dekker, (2003), with William Lawrence, & Gerald Scott, “Causes of Financial Distress: Evidence from Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Jamaica”, Indian Journal of Business & Economics, (June 2005); and with Khi Thai, & Gerald Scott, “The Use of Economic Pricing Models in Government Procurement” International Public Procurement Conference Proceedings, Rome, Italy, (21-23 September 2006).
Along with Donna Cooke and Sandra Schrouder, Dr. Rhodd is also the co-author of a book, Contemporary Issues in the Development of Caribbean Economies, (August 2007) Garai Publishing.
In addition to his scholarly research, Dr. Rhodd is a member of the editorial committee for economics and statistics of several of this country’s largest book publishers, including Prentice-Hall and Mc-Graw-Hill Publishing.
Dr. Rhodd is very active in the community. He has served on many boards including the Zoning and Planning Board of the City of Parkland, and the Community Relations Council for North Broward Medical Center. He is also a member of the American Economic Association.
Dr. Rhodd holds a Masters and Doctorate in Economics from Fordham University.Joel Helke, LLM.
Mr. Helke specializes in tax and financial analysis in an area that is becoming known as financial forensics. This includes economic profiling of financial derivatives and synthetics, singularly and in combination. These include commodity, equity and interest rate swaps, caps, collars, notional principal contracts, and other financing, hedging and risk shifting techniques. He demonstrates how monies paid or earned may be rearranged by adjusting the essence of underlying assets through special purpose vehicles and/or financial derivatives.
His work and teaching experience also includes the tax and financial analysis of hybrid debt, credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations, mandatory convertible debt, long-dated non-debt derivatives and other equity hybrids. His experience includes review of multi-party, cross-border transactions including earnings repatriation.
Roger L. Shaffer, Esq.
is the president of Invoco Corporation, a consulting firm which specializes in the formation of hedge funds, commodity pools, registered investment advisors and brokerage firms. Prior to forming Invoco, Mr. Shaffer was general counsel for TradeStation Securities, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRAD), an electronic securities brokerage firm catering to hedge funds and other active traders. Prior to his role as general counsel for TradeStation, Mr. Shaffer maintained a private law practice where he focused on business transactional and securities law matters. Mr. Shaffer began his career in the securities industry more than 18 years ago advising brokerage clients on financial compliance matters while a manager of Securities Consultants, Inc. (now BISYS Group).
Mr. Shaffer received his Juris Doctorate degree Cum Laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1994 and his Bachelor’s degree in Finance with honors from Florida Atlantic University in 1988. Mr. Shaffer is licensed to practice law in Florida and holds the following securities industry licenses: Series 7 (General Securities Representative); Series 24 (General Securities Principal); Series 55 (Equities Trader Supervisor); Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law); Series 87 (Research Analyst Supervisor).
Steven A. Smith, Ph.D.
has distinguished himself as an entrepreneur, corporate manager, consultant, and academic in his professional career. He has worked in management consulting, product development, project management, engineering, marketing and promotions. He has extensive corporate experience with Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo and has worked on projects throughout the United States and abroad.
Dr. Smith also has management consulting experience with PA Consulting Group, one of the largest management consulting firms in the U.K. He has worked on major organizational change and strategy implementation projects for a variety of European and U.S.-based companies. As an academic, Dr. Smith has held faculty appointments in strategic management at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University, and is currently a member of the management faculty at the University of New Orleans.
His research and teaching expertise are in fields of strategic management, organization theory and international business. Dr. Smith has an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in strategic management and international business, all from Rutgers University.
Patrick Toomey, MBA
Mr. Toomey is the Founder and Managing Partner of Sovereign Advisors, Inc. Sovereign is a US-based domestic and Caribbean real estate advisor and due diligence company. Sovereign’s primary focus is on residential, commercial and specialty hospitality real estate acquisitions and development.
Mr. Toomey formed Sovereign in 2001 following his management (while working for another entity) of a $1 billion non-performing loan portfolio sale for the Jamaican government. To date, this is the largest distressed debt loan sale transacted in the Caribbean. Sovereign is currently engaged in opportunities in the U.S. and Costa Rica.
Mr. Toomey has worked with luxury golf course community developer, Medallist Developments. Medallist is a joint venture between golfer Greg Norman’s Great White Shark Enterprises and Macquarie Bank, Australia’s largest investment bank. Mr. Toomey is responsible for golf course and residential land acquisitions, golf course community feasibility analysis and financial modeling. In May 2007, Mr. Toomey became co-owner of Binks Forest Golf Club located in Wellington, FL.
Between 1994 and 1999, Mr. Toomey developed and managed the Real Estate Research Department for Ocwen Financial Corporation. During this time period, his department directed the research on more than $5 billion in commercial and residential market research. Mr. Toomey’s economic models were used to determine the market risk associated with the fifty largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Such models were then used as a guideline for Ocwen’s loan acquisition program. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Toomey served both as Director of Portfolio Surveillance and Director of International Project Management.
