The foundation of Chris Mefford’s experience lies in working with jurisdictions, businesses and developers, providing market research; feasibility analyses; economic and financial analysis; and policy analysis, including land use and transportation policies. He brings 14 years of consulting, project management and analysis experience with the Pacific Northwest economy, land use and transportation patterns.
Mr. Mefford brings professional skills and expertise in strategic planning; socio-economic and demographic analysis; geographic information systems (GIS) modeling and mapping; financial feasibility analysis; regional economic development; land use planning and transportation planning. Mr. Mefford's prior engagements include leading teams for local and national consulting firms, and serving as a regional economist for the Puget Sound Regional Council.
Mr. Mefford holds an M.B.A. from the University of Washington; an M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning (Economic Development and Transportation concentrations) from the University of Iowa; B.A. in Mathematics (with an Economics minor) from the University of Northern Iowa. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, is a certified member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and a member of the American Planning Association.
Creating Community and Economic Opportunity
Dawn Couch, Research Geography
Dawn Couch brings to Community Attributes seven years of formal research experience in collaborative, inter-disciplinary teams. She is effective in bringing creative thinking to bear positively on research and intellectual pursuits. Ms. Couch is particularly skilled in mixed-method approaches including interviewing, ethnography, surveys, focus groups, descriptive demographics, and quantitative analysis. She offers advanced geographic and data analytics, with expertise in relational databases, spreadsheet modeling and geographic information systems.
At Community Attributes, Ms. Couch has recently led surveys of Seattle industrial businesses for City of Seattle Dept. of Planning and Development, assessed public library operations in U.S. territories for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, led development of several economic profiles for communities in the Puget Sound region.
Prior to joining Community Attributes, Ms. Couch worked as a Research and Teaching Assistant in the Geography Department at the University of Washington. She assisted in all phases of research on community and neighborhood development for inter-disciplinary research collaborations. Her research focused on conceptualizing research questions; developing methodology and instruments; collecting, analyzing, and interpreting both qualitative and quantitative data; articulating and communicating findings in both written form and through presentations.
Ms. Couch holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Anthropology from Lewis and Clark College (1996) and a Masters in Geography from the University of Washington (2005), with an emphasis on urban affairs and spatial analysis.
1402 Third Avenue, Suite 930, Seattle, Washington 98101
Mike Babb applies GIS expertise to all aspects of Community Attributes. Mike brings consulting experience from firms in Seattle where he has contributed to a broad range of projects in GIS technology, land use planning and public policy. Most recently Mike provided contract support for Microsoft's Virtual Earth project. At Microsoft, Mike managed integration of worldwide datasets and global logistics coordination in expanding the website’s content and provided programming support for key applications. Mike’s experience includes extending GIS functionality to core practice areas, database analysis, and cartographic design.
Mike's recent work with Community Attributes includes providing hot spot analysis for La Plaza, LLC, a satellite network of commercial-cultural centers serving Latino businesses; demographic modeling of the nation's public library systems for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and mapping of accredited childcare centers for the Gates Foundation.
Mike has a B.A. in Geography from the University of Washington and is a candidate in the UW's Masters program in Geography. His areas of interest lie in the visualization of changing economics and demographics of urban and suburban cities as well as urban development.
Mike Babb, Geographic Information Systems
Rob Shwed, Development & Sustainability
Rob Shwed is a development analyst with expertise in sustainable development practices. He brings construction management and development experience to Community Attributes. Rob has worked extensively with Common Ground, a non-profit housing developer based in Seattle, contributing to development project management, project planning and scheduling, financial and market concept and feasibility studies; budgeting and development of project financing structure, securing project funding; selection, contracting, and management of design and construction team. Rob also supported the Seattle International District Preservation and Development Authority, leading research into sustainable design strategies. Rob draws from extensive international experiences, working in Chongqing, China, on materials handling and management systems for Chinese-American joint-venture factory in the PRC.
Rob's recent work for Community Attributes includes leading financial modeling for the City of Sammamish Town Center planning and development feasibility modeling for policy decisions for the City of Bainbridge Island.
Rob has a M.S. in Construction Management from the University of Washington with a concentration in real estate and sustainable development; an M.A. from the University of Washington in China Studies; coursework from Yunnan University, Kyoto University, and Nanjing University; and a B.A. from Whitman College in Asian Studies.
Tyler Schrag brings spatial analysis and cartographic capabilities using GIS applied to a variety of purposes including land use, demographics, policy analyses, as well as epidemic modeling and air photo interpretation. His recent work experience includes public safety projects, including fire response modeling for the Bellingham Fire Department, as well as interning with iXP Corporation (public safety systems provider and consultancy). His work at Community Attributes includes providing spatial analysis and cartography for strategy decision-making with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s US Programs and US Libraries initiative. Tyler has a B.A. in Geography from Western Washington University with an emphasis in environmental and resource management as well as a minor in GIS.
Tyler Schrag, Geographic Information Systems
