economic pulse
2026

BY THE FRENCH AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Midwest Chicago

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• Meet our speakers

Artwork by Floriane Roussel

Program

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Benoît Catzaras
French Embassy in the United States

A civil servant at the French Treasury since 2011, Benoît Catzaras served in various capacities and various sectors of economic policy. He participated in the financial regulation of French markets, especially on rules regarding IPOs in 2013. He worked on development economics as the Alternate Director for France at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., in 2016 and 2017. He led the unit at the French Treasury in charge of the largest export contracts for the aerospace, defense, and shipping industries. He is also specialized in European affairs, notably while serving as referent during the French Presidency of the EU Council in 2022 for the whole “Bercy” (meaning the Finance Ministry, the Economy Ministry, the Digital Affairs Ministry, as well as the Trade Ministry), and during his last posting in the Prime Minister’s Office, where he served as Deputy Secretary General for European Affairs. Benoît arrived in early July in Washington, D.C., as Deputy Head of the Economic Department of the French Embassy.
Benoît holds an MBA from ESSEC Business School, a Master’s in Public Affairs from Sciences Po Paris, and is an alumnus of the École Nationale d’Administration (Promotion Badinter).

Joe Brusuelas
RSM

Joe Brusuelas is an award-winning economist with more than 20 years of experience analyzing U.S. monetary policy, labor markets, fiscal policy, international finance, economic indicators and the condition of the U.S. consumer. A member of The Wall Street Journal’s forecasting panel, Joe regularly briefs members of Congress and other senior officials on the effects of federal policy and the factors by which executives make business decisions.
He frequently offers his insights on the U.S., Canadian and global economies in the financial media, including CNBC, Cheddar News, NPR’s Marketplace, Yahoo! Finance, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Axios and Politico. In 2020, he was named one of the 100 most influential economists by Richtopia.
Before joining RSM in 2014, Joe spent four years as a senior economist at Bloomberg LP and the Bloomberg Briefs newsletter group, where he co-founded the award-winning Bloomberg Economics Brief. Earlier in his career, he was a director at Moody's Analytics, covering the U.S. and global economies for the Dismal Scientist website. He also served as chief economist at Merk Investments LLC and chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal.
Joe is co-designer of the RSM Middle Market Business Index and the firm’s cutting-edge Industry Eminence Program. As co-leader of that program, Joe works closely with participants to help guide their industry-specific research and analysis on macroeconomic trends shaping the industries RSM serves.

YVES-MARIE BRILLANT
Martin Brower

Yves-Marie Brillant is Chief Operating Officer of The Martin Brower Company, based in Chicago, where he helps lead one of the world's foremost supply-chain solutions provider to the restaurant industry. Martin Brower manages the end-to-end supply chain - sourcing, planning, freight, logistics, inventory, and distribution - for many of the world's best-known quick-service brands across more than 20 countries, and Yves-Marie oversees the operations that keep over 25,000 restaurants reliably stocked every day across 18 countries.
He has built his entire career with Martin Brower, joining in 2007 and rising through a series of increasingly senior roles across three continents. In France, he served successively as Logistic Project Manager, Operations Support Director, Supply Chain Director, and finally Strategy Director, where he managed IT, supply chain and customer key accounts. In 2017 he relocated to Sydney as Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, leading the region for over four years. He then moved to the United States as President US in 2022 before being appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2023.
Earlier in his career, he spent four years as a Project Manager at Groupe Casino, one of France's leading retail groups. A French native with an international career, Yves-Marie holds a DESS in Distribution from Université Paris Dauphine - PSL. He also serves as a Board Member of the French-American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago, supporting transatlantic business ties across the Midwest.

FRANK LE BIHAN
RSM

Frank Le Bihan leads RSM's Inbound Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) practice, serving 3,000 foreign-owned companies throughout the US and Canada. RSM maintains the most comprehensive FDI client base in the US, spanning multiple sectors globally.
RSM's Foreign Investment team comprises professionals with deep expertise in non-US companies' needs across North America. The team leverages RSM's 17,000-person network to deliver bespoke service to foreign investors.
Frank works with specialized resources including:
Foreign Investors Center of Excellence - Tax, Audit and Consulting professionals serving foreign investors in the U.S.
Country Practices - Cross-services teams covering major investment source countries (Japan, UK, France, Germany, China, Spain, Mexico, Netherlands, Ireland, India) with language, cultural and technical skills specific to each region.
UK Inbound Advisory team - Ensures British clients benefit from transatlantic service grounded in understanding of regulatory and economic environments on both sides of the Atlantic.
As Global Growth Leader, Frank oversees client global growth through a First-Choice Advisor approach delivered consistently worldwide.
A French native with 30+ years' experience, Frank has worked with European and Asian companies investing in North America, and US/Canadian companies on international strategic planning, cross-border expansion and global compliance.

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