Michael Lawrence – President and Chief Economist

Lawrence is President and Chief Economist at JFA. Lawrence has directed JFA’s policy analysis efforts for more than 35 years. He is a frequently sought expert on transportation policy and economic impact analysis. He has considerable experience evaluating policy and technical issues surrounding highway finance, multimodal transportation planning, environmental and energy planning, and cost benefit analysis. He has directed more than one hundred economic analysis studies of government programs. Lawrence has a Bachelor of Arts in economics and a MBA in applied finance from the University of California – Berkeley.

Alan Hachey – Senior Planning Analyst

Mr. Hachey is a Senior Planning Analyst at JFA with sixteen years of professional experience in both the private and public sector relating to transportation policy, environmental and transportation infrastructure planning. Mr. Hachey has significant experience in GIS analysis, transit, roadway and rail corridor planning and studies and the metropolitan transportation planning process. Before entering the private sector, Mr. Hachey worked in the public sector at both a Regional Transit District and Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) in Connecticut.

Experience: Project Management. Establishing fee and labor estimates for projects, assembling diverse project teams, identifying potential teaming partners for projects, establishing schedules and assuring quality control for project deliverables. Regulatory expertise. Advanced knowledge of the federal, state and local regulatory process for federal projects including compliance with Presidential Executive Orders, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, Clean Water Act and regional air quality conformance. Management of multidisciplinary project teams in the development of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance documents for the Federal Transit Administration, Federal Highway Administration and Federal Railroad Administration. Expertise in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for transportation, environmental and socioeconomic analysis.

Shikha Dave – Economist

Shikha is an economist with JFA. Her work includes analysis of financial availability and entrepreneurship in minority communities, impact analysis for educational institutions, and transportation-related projects. She has experience in data analysis and econometrics, economic applications to energy markets, analysis of economic indicators, qualitative research methods, and report writing. She has a Bachelor of Arts in economics and a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

JFA Alumni

Jonathan Skolnik – Vice President and Senior Economist

Jon Skolnik was Vice President and a Senior Economist at JFA. An economic policy analyst with 30 years of specialized experience in the development of economic data and models used in federal policy analysis, he spent his career developing economic input-out models and has extensive experience in applying these models to the transportation and energy sectors. Skolnik has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University.

Ira Silvergleit – Researcher and Data Analyst

Ira Silvergleit is an experienced researcher, data analyst and writer with more than 35 years of experience. Before joining JFA, he directed research and information departments at various trade and professional associations. There he collected and analyzed data, conducted surveys and researched topics of interest. Silvergleit is well versed in writing for technical and non-technical audiences. He has a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration from The American University and a Master of Arts in Social Psychology from Northern Illinois University.

Mathies Wähner – Research Associate

Mathies joined the JFA Team in 2015 and since then has worked on numerous projects conducting research, collecting and analyzing data, and compiling final report documents. He has experience in the conduct of Benefit Cost Analysis and other economic analysis procedures. Mathies also prepares graphics and charts to be used in reports and other presentation material, and takes care of the firms IT network. He has a BA in Energy and Water Management from Hochschule Ruhr West (University of Applied Sciences) in Germany.

Kathlyn Skolnik – Communications Analyst

Kathlyn contracts with JFA to assist with communications research and implementation. Her work includes outreach strategy, web development, qualitative research and communications analysis. She has experience in agency marketing, research, and organizational communication from almost three years of consulting and in-house technology work after studying Research Communications and Technology Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara