Director, The Center for Economic Development
California State University, Chico
530.898.4598

Dan Ripke is director of the Center for Economic Development at CSU, Chico and has been with the center since 1989. He has expanded the center’s service region from twelve counties to twenty-seven counties, a region which encompasses over 30 percent of the state. The Center for Economic Development provides technical assistance to communities throughout California, hosts regional events, and publishes the Annual County Profile Series, a set of 23 county reports (each 150+ pages) summarizing economic and demographic trends.

His office also hosted the first Economic Gardening Conference in 1999 in Chico, California. In 2003, the CED became the lead Small Business Development Center, overseeing six of the centers at local community colleges, through a grant from the Small Business Administration (SBA). At this time the organization became known as the Northeastern California Small Business Development Center (NECSBDC), serving 23 California counties.

Dan is a regular speaker on topics related to entrepreneurship, economic gardening, regional economic development, as well as the affects of economic and demographic trends on communities, their economies, and their businesses. Dan is regularly quoted in publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Sacramento Bee, to name a few.