SGS Economics and Planning is very pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew McDougall as a Director of the firm. Andrew has been a major contributor to SGS for many years. He joined the firm in 1999 and by 2006 had become an Associate Director. He returned to SGS in 2009 after an 18 month period as a Director of Property Economics with one of Australia's leading property advisory firms.
Andrew has led a wide variety of consultancy based projects at SGS, including:
• Regional economic development strategy formulation;
• Evaluations of government programs;
• Demand forecasting (land, floorspace) for regions, cities and specific activity/ town centres;
• Cost benefit and economic impact appraisals, usually for proposed infrastructure projects or programs, and often as inputs into business cases for government investment;
• Financial and economic feasibility studies, often within wider business or corporate planning exercises;
• Facilities planning studies, primarily for education institutions but also for justice facilities; and
• Specialised research and planning studies, focussing on economic competitiveness and competency development and including strategies to maximise economic development potential.
Andrew is an economist who holds a Master of Planning & Design by Research, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment, a Bachelor of Business Banking & Finance (with Distinction), and a Bachelor of Business Management (Economics).He is the author of a variety of articles in refereed publications.
Prior to working with SGS, Andrew was employed by AHURI and by a management consulting firm specialising in strategic management, business planning, financial feasibility assessment, information technology advising and equity investment preparation. Earlier, he worked in the Economic Development Branch of the City of Gold Coast Council, where he was responsible for significant inputs into the region's economic development strategy. His career commenced at the National Australia Bank Limited, including personal, small business and ultimately commercial lending.