James Maples, Ph.D.

James Maples, Ph.D., is the lead economist at Vista Site Selection.  His focus is on the creation of economic impact studies, using a variety of economic modeling software, including IMPLAN.  He also supports economic development and site selection projects with tax revenue projections and assists Vista’s data team in the application of data during proprietary tool development.  

James is an accomplished economics analyst, one of ~40 economists who are certified as an economist through IMPLAN, the leading economic impact modeling software used by government agencies, corporations, non-profits and other major organizations.  He is also proficient in Stata, R and SPSS for statistical analysis.  He has more than a decade of experience as an economist and quantitative researcher and has completed nearly 100 economic impact studies.  His experience as an economist spans many industries, including manufacturing, retail, housing, office, non-profits, active transportation, recreation, policy, among others.  He excels in collaboration and communication, working alongside clients and helping to generate both attention-grabbing talking points and provide more nuanced analysis of deeper economic data.

Prior to joining Vista, James spent a decade as a professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin and Eastern Kentucky University, including serving as director at the latter institution’s Division for Regional Economic Assessment and Modeling. He also spent two years with Earth Resources Technology, serving as the economic impact expert for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

James holds a Ph.D. from The University of Tennessee.  Aside from being an IMPLAN-certified economist, James is also certified for Google Data Analytics as well as Database Development.  He has published nearly 40 peer-reviewed articles in industry journals and also wrote the authoritative book on the history of rock climbing in Kentucky's Red River Gorge.