CHRISTIANSTED — Governor Albert Bryan. today named former Senator Allison DeGazon to take the position of Director of the Division of Economic Research effective Monday.
The Division of Economic Research provides reliable and quality statistics to enhance the social and economic development of U.S. Virgin Islands through statistical analysis and reports in support of public-sector and private-sector decision-making. The Division, formerly known as the Bureau of Economic Research, was under the Office of Management and Budget before becoming a division under the Office of the Governor.
“It is imperative that we build a unit in the Virgin Islands that generates, complies, analyzes and distributes data to support our public and private sector,” DeGazon said. “I intend to lead the charge in ensuring that our local data is accurate and accessible so that our policymakers can drive effective public policy and spur economic growth.”
Government House Communications Director Richard Motta said that DeGazon’s salary is $95,000 annually. St. Croix voters chose not to give DeGazon a second stint in legislative office in November 2020 when she placed ninth with 2,733 votes. The UVI grad left as a one-term senator with little to show for it.
Before being elected as a member of the 33rd Legislature where she served as Chairwoman of the Senate’s Economic Development, Regulations and Agriculture Committee, DeGazon served as Assistant Director at the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency from 2015-2017 and as Territorial Director of Unemployment Insurance at the Virgin islands Labor Department from 2012-2015. She holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of the Virgin Islands and a Ph.D in Creative Leadership, Innovation and Change from the University of the Virgin Islands and Buffalo State College.
In addition, DeGazon is a member of a number of economic research groups in the Caribbean, United States and Canada, and she is a representative of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Agri-Economic Society. DeGazon also is the owner of Cruzan Organix Farm, Inc. and Business Strategies, Inc.