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Non-profit

Center for Growth and Opportunity

Website:

thecgo.org
Location:

Logan, UT
Tax ID:

45-3564310
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2017):

Revenue: $3,538,684
Expenses: $762,701
Assets: $2,806,519
Formation:

2017
Type:

Non-profit
Executive Director:

Blake Dursteler
Executive Director's Salary:

$197,2961

References

  1. Center for Growth and Opportunity, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.

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The Center for Growth and Opportunity (CGO) at Utah State University is a non-partisan think tank that conducts economic research in order to develop policy solutions that it claims will create economic growth and empower individuals. 1 Along with its research, CGO hosts conferences, seminars, and visiting speakers, and funds scholarships and research fellowships. 2

CGO was established in 2017 through a joint donation to the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business from the Charles Koch Foundation and the Huntsman Foundation. 3

The Center for Growth and Opportunity is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of right-leaning state-level policy organizations. 4

Activity

The Center for Growth and Opportunity (CGO) at Utah State University is a non-partisan think tank that conducts economic research in order to develop policy approaches focused on economic growth and empowering individuals. 5 Along with its research, CGO hosts conferences, seminars, and visiting speakers, and funds scholarships and research fellowships. 6

CGO’s research is primarily focused on technology and innovation, environmental stewardship, and immigration. 7

CGO claims that high tax rates paired with inefficient tax structures prevent innovation and limit overall economic growth. CGO promotes tax policies that support lower tax rates and the consistent treatment of both personal and corporate income taxes. 8

CGO uses its research to promote policy changes that would decentralize energy markets in order to encourage new digital energy technologies, claiming that current regulations stunt the use and growth of new consumer energy services. 9

CGO is critical of the current immigration system and suggests that an “auctions” approach would promote economic growth. CGO claims that auctions are a more effective way to establish permissible entry levels and would give employers more freedom to hire workers whom they value. 10

Funding

CGO was established in 2017 through a joint donation to the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business from the Charles Koch Foundation and the Huntsman Foundation. 11 CGO continues to receive funding from organizations and individual donors.

People

Staff

Sarah Bennett is the manager of academic and student programs and formerly worked for the Atlas Network. 12

Eli Dourado is a senior research fellow at Center for Growth and Opportunity, former senior research fellow and director of the technology policy program at the Mercatus Center, and a former telecommunications advisor to the Department of State. 13

Blake Dursteler is the president and CEO of the CGO and serves on the national advisory board of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. 14

Mark Houser is the senior academic and student programs director at CGO. Houser formerly headed the student programs department at the Cato Institute, where he previously served as a research assistant in the Center for Educational Freedom and as an intern with the Defense and Foreign Policy department. 15

Megan Jenkins is a research director at CGO and formerly served as a director of policy at Strata Policy. 16

Parker Jeppesen is the director of external relations for CGO. Jeppesen is a former consultant for government relations firms Bennett Consulting Group and American Capitol Group and formerly worked for Strata Policy. 17

Christopher Koopman is the executive director at CGO, a senior affiliated scholar with the Mercatus Center, and a member of the IT and Emerging Technology working group at the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project. Koopman is a former senior research fellow and former director of the technology policy program at the Mercatus Center. 18

William Rinehart is a senior research fellow at CGO. Rinehart formerly worked as director of technology and innovation policy at the American Action Forum, research fellow at TechFreedom, and director of operations at the International Center for Law and Economics. 19

Board of Directors

Amy Rees Anderson is the founder and former CEO of MediConnect Global, Inc. and has since founded REES Capital and the IPOP Foundation. Rees Anderson is a regular contributor to Forbes and the Huffington Post and has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, Bloomberg Businessweek, among others. 20

Brian Broadbent is a senior private wealth advisor and managing director at Goldman Sachs, where he serves on the leadership council. Broadbent serves on the national advisory boards of the Huntsman School of Business and the Old Main Society. 21

Derek Johnson is the executive director of the Charles Koch Institute and has formerly served in other leadership positions at both the Charles Koch Institute and the Charles Koch Foundation. Johnson serves as chair of board of the VELA Education Fund and on the board of Yes. Every Kid. 22

Vernon L. Smith is a professor of economics and law at Chapman University, a research scholar at the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science, and a fellow of the Mercatus Center. Smith has served on the boards of editors of the American Economic Review, the Cato Journal, the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, among others. Smith formerly served as president of the Public Choice Society, the Economic Science Association, and the Association for Private Enterprise Education. Smith won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2002. 23

Editorial Board

Ted Bolema is the founding executive director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Growth, a former senior fellow for the Free State Foundation, and a former director of policy research editing at the Mercatus Center. Bolema formerly served as a trial attorney for Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and as a policy adviser for the Department of Energy. 24

James Broughel is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and serves on the Department of Energy’s Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee. 25

Richard Evans is a visiting fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, the director of the University of Chicago’s Open Source Economics Laboratory, and a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute’s Tax Policy Center. Evans is a former researcher for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and the Utah Economic Council. 26

Robert Krol is a senior affiliated scholar with the Mercatus Center, serves on the board of policy advisors of the Heartland Institute, and is a former economist at the Milken Institute. Krol has published policy papers for the Cato Institute and Mercatus Center. 27

Bryan McCannon is the associate director of the Center for Free Enterprise. 28

Pia Orrenius is a research fellow at the Tower Center for Public Policy and International Affairs at Southern Methodist University and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Orrenius formerly served as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers during the George W. Bush Administration. 29

Lucas Rentschler serves at Utah State University as an assistant professor in the Department of Economics and Finance and the director of the Experimental Economics Laboratory. 30

Zavodny is a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics, a fellow at the Global Labor Organization, and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. 31

References

  1. “About.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/about/.
  2. “USU Huntsman School of Business Receives $50 Million Gift.” Utah State University, May 6, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2020. https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-huntsman-school-of-business-receives-50-million-gift.
  3. “USU Huntsman School of Business Receives $50 Million Gift.” Utah State University, May 6, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2020. https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-huntsman-school-of-business-receives-50-million-gift.
  4. “The Network: Utah.” State Policy Network, 2020. Accessed November 9, 2020. https://spn.org/directory/#UT.
  5. “About.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/about/.
  6. “USU Huntsman School of Business Receives $50 Million Gift.” Utah State University, May 6, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2020. https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-huntsman-school-of-business-receives-50-million-gift.
  7. “Research.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 14, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/research/.
  8. Hedlund, Aaron. “How Do Taxes Affect Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Productivity?” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 14, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/research/how-do-taxes-affect-entrepreneurship-innovation-and-productivity/.
  9. Kiesling, Lynne. “Innovations and Decentralized Energy Markets.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 14, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/research/innovations-and-decentralized-energy-markets/.
  10. Orrenius, Pia and Zavodny, Madeline. “An Auctions Approach to Immigration Policy.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 14, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/research/an-auctions-approach-to-immigration-policy/.
  11. “USU Huntsman School of Business Receives $50 Million Gift.” Utah State University, May 6, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2020. https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-huntsman-school-of-business-receives-50-million-gift.
  12. “Sarah Bennett.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/sarah-bennett/.
  13. “Eli Dourado.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/eli-dourado/.
  14. “Blake Dursteler.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/blake-dursteler/.
  15. “Mark Houser.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/mark-houser/.
  16. “Megan E. Jenkins.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/megan-e-jenkins/.
  17. “Parker Jeppesen.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/parker-jeppesen/.
  18. “Christopher Koopman.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/christopher-koopman/.
  19. “William Rinehart.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/william-rinehart/.
  20. “Amy Rees Anderson.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/amy-rees-anderson/.
  21. “Brian Broadbent.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/brian-broadbent/.
  22. “Executive Director.” Charles Koch Institute, 2020. Accessed November 11, 2020. https://www.charleskochinstitute.org/executive-director/.
  23. “Vernon L. Smith.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/vernon-l-smith/.
  24. “Ted Bolema.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/auto-draft-18/.
  25. “James Broughel.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/james-broughel/.
  26. “Richard Evans.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/auto-draft-11/.
  27. “Robert Krol.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020.  https://www.thecgo.org/people/robert-krol-2/.
  28. “Bryan C. McCannon.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/auto-draft-17/.
  29. “Pia Orrenius.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/pia-orrenius/.
  30. “Lucas Rentschler.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/lucas-rentschler/.
  31. “Madeline Zavodny.” The Center for Growth and Opportunity, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2020. https://www.thecgo.org/people/madeline-zavodny-2/.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: May 1, 2013

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2017 Dec Form 990 $3,538,684 $762,701 $2,806,519 $30,536 N $3,537,333 $0 $1,351 $113,333 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Center for Growth and Opportunity

    3525 OLD MAIN HILL
    Logan, UT 84322-0001