Gary Smith is the author and developer of the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Analysis Project (PNREAP) web site. He launched the first rendition of the web site in 1997 under a different moniker when he was on the faculty as an extension economist at Washington State University. Smith's research has focused on assessing the ever changing economic conditions and trends of regional and rural economies, especially those throughout the West and Northwest.

Over his career Gary has been highly active and involved in the major economics organizations within the Northwest. He is presently serving a fifth two-year term as president of the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference (PNREC). In 2006 Gary was the president of the Seattle Economics Council (SEC), the regional chapter of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). He served as a member of the Washington State Governor's Council of Economic Advisors during the Booth Gardner and Mike Lawry administrations. Dr. Smith was on the faculty of the School of Economic Sciences at Washington State University from 1983 until his retirement ih 2006.

In 2007 Gary joined the Applied Social Data Center at Central Washington University as the center's Director of Economic Research. Smith received his BA, MA and Ph.D. degrees in economics respectively from U.C. Davis, U.C.L.A. and Oregon State University.