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Family, Franciscan University motivated Argentinian economist’s move

Juan Manuel Jauregui

STEUBENVILLE — There’s always at least one reason behind why a family decides to move somewhere different. Perhaps it’s because of a new job or to be closer to relatives. Maybe it’s to be around individuals with similar attitudes and values.

For Juan Manuel Jauregui, who was born in Argentina but spent 20 years in Washington, D.C., his move to Steubenville was motivated by family — a desire to be close to his daughter and son who were attending Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Since he moved in 2021 with his wife and two youngest children, Jauregui has relished in Steubenville’s Christian environment and small-town way of life. Now, the president of a financial and economic consulting firm is seeking to integrate more fully into the community.

Jauregui grew up in Rosario, the largest city in Argentina’s Santa Fe province. After earning a degree in industrial engineering, Jauregui obtained his master of business administration degree and master of arts in economics in Argentina. He relocated to the U.S. for five years to earn his Ph.D. in management at the University of California-Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.

Jauregui has worked as an assistant professor of economics at Austral University’s IAE Business School in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as a visiting professor of economics at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in Getafe, Spain. He’s held a number of corporate positions, including with the IAE Business School, Roche Pharmaceutical, Procter and Gamble, Kraft, Suchard, Molinos Rio de la Plata and Industria Grafica Pagani. 

From 2009 until 2021, Jauregui worked for the International Monetary Fund — a Washington-based United Nations agency that promotes international financial cooperation and stability — and rose to become a senior economist.

Catholicism has been a part of Jauregui’s life since his baptism as a baby. He grew up in a Catholic family and, as he grew older, began to take his faith more seriously.

More than a decade ago, Jauregui learned about Franciscan University and connected with its unabashed Catholic identity.

“In the world we live, Christianity is not being accepted by the larger part of society,” Jauregui said. “So, the Christian views and the Christian lifestyles are very much being abandoned, even by places that used to have them. Even Catholic universities in many places, they don’t look very Catholic, when you look at the lifestyles of the students and the things that they’re taught.”

A father of five, Jauregui strongly encouraged his second and third oldest children to attend the university, which they did. And when they did, Jauregui brought the rest of his family from Washington, D.C., to live in Steubenville.

“I think it’s a great university for them because there are many children that come from families that their faith seriously, and the university provides for them a good environment to grow academically and also spiritually. … Eventually, they’ll establish their own families and professions with a way of looking at life that is Christian. So, having them here is good, and for them to be close to me is also good.”

From 2021 to 2023, Jauregui taught as an associate professor of economics at Franciscan.

Jauregui still has two children in the home who attend Steubenville Catholic Central High School. Although where his children settle after college may determine where Jauregui and his wife choose to stay, Jauregui is making the most of his time in the Ohio Valley.

The area’s geography is “beautiful,” particularly the Appalachian Mountains, Jauregui said. Also, Steubenville’s proximity to Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh International Airport allow Jauregui to continue his professional activity as an economist.

Jauregui had been doing consultant work for years but, in 2023, established Aurum Economics and Finance LLC. The business, which employs five others, has offices in Pittsburgh and Washington, so Jauregui often finds himself traveling to meet with clients.

“(My firm) is developed around my professional experience over many years,” Jauregui said, adding, “What I do is let people enrich (themselves) from what I’ve learned in my professional life. My consulting business, it’s rooted in academic knowledge because of my Ph.D. and my work that was always very analytical. … The advice we give and services we provide are an application always of some form of knowledge, across theory and across data. It’s a serious endeavor of understanding reality and helping people profit from that.”

Aurum serves businesses large and small, government agencies, investors and financial advisers, which receive Jauregui’s or his colleague’s input on economic forecasting that could affect their financial decisions — contracts, financing, investments or other operations.

“All these things are things that I help people decide, and it could be any decision. Whenever they have a decision, they need to think about it, and whenever they think about it, they need advisers, data, models and theory. This is how I help people decided better, grow their business, or if they’re government agencies, provide a better service to the community.”

The word “Aurum” is Latin for “gold.” The business’ logo bears a fleur-de-lis, which Jauregui said represents nobility and royalty, as well as Christianity due to its cruciform shape.

Jauregui said he wants to bolster his relationships with local businesses.

“I see this endeavor of integrating better with the local commune and a war of giving back to the community. It’s also a way of having some corporate social responsibility apply to the town. … It is an occasion to serve and contribute to the community.”

To accomplish that, Jauregui has joined the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and plans to attend more meetings to boost his involvement.

Working primarily with large businesses and agencies, Jauregui has “always been appreciative” of small businesses and communities because they’re dynamic, less bureaucratic and yield more immediate results.

Jauregui said he appreciates the people of Steubenville. He’s made many friends, including through his parish — St. Peter Catholic Church — where he’s the founder of the monthly men’s group known as the Confraternity of St. Peter.

Having already met three of the Steubenville City Council members, Jauregui said he’s open to sharing his economic expertise with the city to aid with projects. Developments like Form Factory 1 in Weirton prove that the Ohio Valley is capable of attracting major projects, Jauregui said, adding that analytical and technical work are needed to make progress.

“I believe that the overall environment is going to be favorable to Ohio, the Ohio Valley and Steubenville … in the next few years. This area was very much not favored by the globalziaito and moving of manufacturing to Asia, but I think now the trend is changing,and we can be hopeful of having good growth and good development.”

And when that development comes, Jauregui said, he can help them decide “what is wise for them to do.”

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