Matthew Newman is a joint founder of the Blue Sky Consulting Group. Mr. Newman specializes in quantitative analysis of state and local fiscal, economic and public policy issues. He has expertise in developing simulation and forecasting models, including work for the California Legislature, where he developed the first modern property tax forecasting model used by the state's Legislative Analyst's Office. He also conceptualized, designed and implemented the CSUS Forecast of the Sacramento Region, the region’s first econometric forecasting model.

Mr. Newman was the founding Executive Director of the California Institute for County Government (CICG), a nonpartisan public policy research organization supported by the California State Association of Counties, the California State University system, and the California State University, Sacramento. Mr. Newman had oversight responsibility for all CICG research projects and directed the institute's strategic planning and fundraising activities. While at CICG, Mr. Newman specialized in analyzing complex public policy issues and presenting the results to policy makers in a clear and concise format. He conducted empirical research projects in a broad range of areas relevant to local government in California and maintained an extensive database of local government financial, economic, and demographic statistics. Mr. Newman was responsible for the publication of four dozen research reports, articles, and publications, and developed the institute's Digital Clipping Service, a news clipping service used by more than 3,000 top level state and local officials each day.