TOP ECONOMISTS
DAVID EVANS
ECONOMISTS
EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE
D
avid Evans joined Evans,
Carroll & Associates (ECA)
in 2012 and has led its EB-5
economic impact practice since
2016. The firm specializes in
economic analysis for EB-5
programs and the development of custom econometric models
for individual industries and companies. ECA has successfully
submitted hundreds of EB-5 economic impact reports that have
been approved by USCIS.
Prior to joining ECA, Evans served as the Chief Scoring Officer
for Capital One Bank (1999-2011). He started his career in
economic
consulting
(1989-99),
most
notably
at
PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Evans received his degree in
Economics from Brown University in 1989.
WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE
EB-5 INDUSTRY?
After 22 years in corporate America, I was exploring my next
career move – and for the first time in his life, my father (Michael
Evans, who founded ECA) said to me, “Son, I need your help.”
Since then – over the past 10 years – what’s kept me enthusiastic
in the EB-5 industry is threefold:
1. Being part of the win-win of creating new jobs and providing
opportunity to immigrants.
2. The variety. I’ve written reports ranging from a flight simulator
attraction to Asian carp fishing.
3. More than any other work I’ve done, EB-5 truly combines art
and science.
WHAT NEW TYPES OF PROJECTS AND
TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE
EB-5 INDUSTRY?
The most significant change we’ve seen recently is the
importance of pre-identifying whether projects are located in
Targeted Employment Areas. Prior to the November 2019 policy
change, nearly all project locations qualified as TEAs; this is
most certainly no longer the case.
The other major trend is since USCIS rescinded Tenant
Occupancy, nearly all new projects have been heavily dependent
on construction jobs, especially those exceeding 24 months
(whereby direct construction jobs can be included as well).
Otherwise, we are seeing a bit of a resurgence in new projects,
perhaps due to increased confidence that EB-5 is here to stay.
ISMAEL FERNANDEZ
ECONOMISTS
EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE
D
r. Ismael Fernández,
originally from Madrid
is the founder and president
of Greengate Consulting, an
Atlanta-based consultancy
firm. With a PhD and MBA
from Georgia Tech, Fernández, a published author in
the field of technology valuation, extended his career
into the EB-5 space as an economist given his
experience in financial modeling. Prior to funding
Greengate, Fernandez was a senior manager at
General Electric, leading a global team forecasting
demand for gas turbine parts. Since 2010, Fernández
has assisted hundreds of firms to get established in
the U.S. and secured dozens of I-526, I-924, and I-829
approvals.
WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE
EB-5 INDUSTRY?
For me, the EB-5 industry was a natural extension to the practice
I founded when leaving GE. Given my background and origin, I fit
well in the shoes of foreign investors looking to migrate to the
U.S. for business purposes, especially the Spanish speaking
regions of the world. My practice is aimed to those families that
were seeking to start their own business in the U.S. Since I was
accustomed to building complex financial models, I found EB-5
economic models a natural extension to my education and
skillset. We love to be creative about our work, and to advocate
for our clients using numbers.
WHAT NEW TYPES OF PROJECTS AND
TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE
EB-5 INDUSTRY?
The majority of EB-5 investors continue to favor real-estate
projects with the perception of less risk and higher returns,
especially now. Given the long USCIS processing times however,
EB-5 benefits are coming second to return on investment. This
means that projects have to show a higher appreciation for the
EB-5 investment that in the past couple of decades. Projects
within a solid TEA are at a competitive edge, but because the
long I-526 processing times, I would caution those projects that
rely on TEAs that could potentially see an improvement of
economics in the next few years while the approval is still
pending.
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