About Focalize Solutions

What clients hire us for

Clients work with Focalize Solutions when they need economic analysis that will hold up under scrutiny, whether it is reviewed by opposing experts, senior leadership, or public stakeholders.

We are most often engaged when clients need:

• Economic damages and valuation analysis that can withstand expert challenge

• Clear, defensible exhibits and written support for hearings and testimony

• Market and scenario analysis to inform high-stakes business decisions

• Program evaluation and cost-benefit analysis for funding and regulatory review

• Workforce and labor market analysis tied to policy or investment questions

• Custom data and survey analysis where off-the-shelf answers fall short

Founder and Principal Economist

Focalize Solutions is led by Guanyi Yang, Ph.D., an economist who supports litigation teams, business leaders, and public organizations with clear and defensible economic analysis. Clients bring us in when the work needs to be review-ready and defensible, whether in expert review, negotiation, or formal proceedings.

Guanyi’s work spans damages and valuation questions, market and scenario analysis, and program evaluation. Engagements often involve building or auditing analytical models, working with large administrative or survey datasets, and translating results into reports and exhibits that are easy to use and easy to defend.

Guanyi earned his Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University and is the Gerald L. Schlessman Assistant Professor of Economics and Business at Colorado College. He is also a Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO). This academic background strengthens the rigor of the work, while consulting engagements keep the focus on practical decisions and clear communication.

Outside of client work, Guanyi leads applied research projects that connect data, policy questions, and real-world outcomes, including work on labor markets and community-level analysis.

Curriculum vitae: View CV

Selected engagements

Focalize Solutions supports litigation, business decisions, and public programs with analysis that is built to be reviewed and used. The examples below are representative. Client names and confidential details are omitted.

• Commercial litigation, damages, and lost profits: Built “but for” financial models from business records, pressure-tested with alternative specifications, and translated into clear exhibits for expert reports, mediation, and hearings.

• Valuation disputes and earn-out questions: Supported damages analyses tied to transaction documents by defining required inputs, structuring document requests, and organizing performance data so the analysis can be executed and defended.

• Public program evaluation and performance reporting: Designed a reporting cadence with monthly deliverables and an annual summative evaluation, along with a turnkey reporting system supported by documentation and staff training.

• Workforce and job quality measurement: Developed a job quality framework and indicator set, built occupation-level datasets using public microdata and benchmarks, and produced sector and workforce summaries suitable for public-facing reporting.

• Data audits and measurement roadmaps: Cleaned and consolidated program data, identified missing or high-value metrics, produced quick-win visuals for stakeholders, and delivered a practical roadmap for deeper impact and ROI work.

• Economic impact studies for events and place-based investments: Designed survey-based data collection, estimated visitor spending and local economic activity, and produced sponsor-ready reporting using standard input-output methods such as IMPLAN.

Deliverables commonly include documented datasets, methods notes, and tables and figures that are ready to drop into memos, reports, or exhibits. Additional examples are available in our economic consulting case studies.

How we work

We keep projects focused, defensible, and easy to manage. Our engagements follow a clear structure, with flexibility built in where needed.

• Scope first: We confirm the decision the analysis needs to support, the standard of review, and the specific deliverables.

• Right-sized support: Depending on the engagement, we provide a standalone report, expert-ready exhibits, or hands-on collaboration with your team.

• Clean inputs: We identify the minimum data required, request it efficiently, and document assumptions when the record is incomplete.

• Defensible methods: We use standard approaches where possible, run sensitivity checks, and maintain a clear trail from inputs to results.

• Clear outputs: We write for non-technical readers and deliver tables, figures, and explanations that can be used in memos, reports, or hearings.

• No surprises: You receive brief updates, versioned files, and clear next steps at each milestone.

Tell us what decision you’re facing. We’ll outline the best next steps.