Debra Roubik, the economic development project manager for AZ TechCelerator, died on Aug. 12. She was 64.
Roubik was well-known in the Valley's business community as an economist, entrepreneur, financial educator and small business specialist.
As chief economist and founder of consulting firm VisionEcon, Roubik specialized in revenue forecasting, strategic planning and financial analysis for several clients including the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma Office of State Finance and Maricopa County, according to Roubik’s LinkedIn page.
In 2021, Roubik was hired as an economic development project manager for the city of Surprise’s AZ TechCelerator, a business incubator, accelerator and certified soft landing program that provides mentorship and resources to growing startups.
Roubik was “a dream hire” for the AZ TechCelerator because of her great network, and extensive experience in entrepreneurship and economics, said Jeanine Jerkovic, economic development director for the city of Surprise.
“Whenever you can find somebody who has a passion for helping people start and grow their businesses, it’s truly special,” Jerkovic said. “We were so lucky to have her genius and talents to help our business community.”
Roubik was instrumental in bringing the DreamBuilder program to the AZ TechCelerator last year, Jerkovic added.
The program, created by ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, is geared toward helping Latina entrepreneurs build and grow businesses.
Roubik began her career as an economist in 1981 at Chicago-based Harris Trust and Savings Bank — now known as BMO Harris Bank — where she was responsible for the financial institution’s macroeconomic model. She also served as vice president and economist for Stotler Economics from 1988 to 1990.
After moving to Arizona, Roubik was an economist for the Arizona Department of Economic Security. In 1998, she launched VisionEcon and created a dynamic revenue model for objective legislative impact studies and other scenario forecasting.
Roubik was among a group of experts who provided economic forecasts for the Western Blue Chip consensus, which is prepared by the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. She also tracked economic trends for the Greater Phoenix Blue Chip consensus.
She held a bachelor’s degree in economics and probability and statistics from Northern Illinois University, and an MBA in finance from Grand Canyon University, according to LinkedIn.
Roubik was an adjunct professor at Trine and Ottawa universities, teaching classes in economics, marketing, finance and business software.
Roubik was appointed to the city of Peoria’s economic development advisory board in June 2018 and served as vice chair in 2021. She was also a member of the city’s industrial development authority board, serving as secretary and president.
“Debra was dedicated to assisting small business owners as she was a small business owner herself. Debra was always willing to share her knowledge and expertise in the area of economics and finance with businesses,” Jennifer Stein, city of Peoria’s economic development director, said in an email. “The City deeply appreciated her volunteerism on both boards and Debra will be greatly missed.”
In her personal life, Roubik enjoyed traveling and spending time with her family, according to an obituary.
Roubik is survived by her five children and four grandchildren.
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