Article about Hickory's Unemployment, The Hickory Hound, and Quotes including Mine. Please Read. (28,548 jobs lost in the Unifour from June 2000 thru November 2008 & 7,568 jobs lost from January 2008 thru November 2008)
WSJ Article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123153289645569033.html
Workforce Stats in Excel Format:
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Saturday, January 10, 2009
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8 comments:
Wow James,
Congratulations. You are now one of the media elite :) I left out liberal. If the powers that be didn't know you before, they certainly do now.
Keep it up.
Thanks, I think. That's sort of a scary thought. But, I think that the local media needs to report the story. Funny how they can report all of these robberies going on around here lately. They can show the lines of people in need at the soup kitchen and the Employment Security Commission. They can report the lay-offs. But, they just won't put 2 and 2 together and do any in-depth research of the contribution that (lack of) local leadership has contributed to this predicament.
I am not saying that our present situation is caused by our local government, but they have certainly contributed. Can we afford four more years of "no control" as this mayor put it in that article.
Maybe instead of spending years of trying to control every nook and cranny of this city socially, by telling this business where it could be located or what that business could or couldn't do with their property; they could have asked local area business leaders what they needed to succeed. Instead they have mandated things on high, because they see what they are doing in Asheville or Greensboro or Raleigh or Yada, yada, yada....We could have been doing what is in the best interest of our unique situation. We've had plenty of image and little (actually no) substance.
Think of the major issues that council has had on its agenda the last few years. Downtown Development Association (obvious waste); the unnecessary Lowe's fiasco and escalation caused by the mayor, one alderwoman, and a vocal minority cabal of insiders; the negative relations with businesses over the open container laws; The institution of an arbitrary (and unnecessarily meddlesome) nuisance statute over the Buffalo's fiasco, that still has not been resolved; Wasted time and unnecessary focus on a Drinking Establishment Moratorium based upon a couple of rogue bars.
There is a void of leadership in this area. Too many egos. Oh, they will jump on anything that they construe as remotely positive toward their personal agenda, but they won't stick their neck out on the line when it comes to anything involving economic development that might have their finger prints on it, if it could fail.
Think about Adrian Shuford, Art Viles, the Broyhills, Alex and Lee George and the others that were the foundational business leaders of this community.
These people built this community and brought pride and showed leadership by taking chances. These people developed their companies in recessions and depressions. They made huge investments and risked their personal wealth. But not only that, they had to put their reputations on the line to create commerce for this area.
All of that is being frittered away and their seems to be few individuals willing to step up and take their place.
What I am seeing is a community on a respirator and it doesn't have to be. Two recessions this decade and we haven't gotten out of the first one. We just assumed that eventually everything would get better. We went about worrying about trivialities.
A successful community needs robust commerce. The brain of a community is its government (representatives of the people, by the people, and for the people) functioning with entrepreneurs. The heart is the businesses that are established in a community to give its citizens purpose. A common purpose that gives meaning to their lives. The blood is money. Without money our community cannot grow and prosper. The soul is the community's people. Without successful people, thriving with purpose, a community is sure to die.
It has been more than apparent that the body parts of this community have been dysfunctional. We certainly have people that are trying, but we have not had focus for a long time. A blind man has vision, but he cannot focus. That is a lot like this community. We have to bring things into focus. We need to see what needs to be seen and quit worrying about ancillary agendas.
I have no confidence in black ice leadership. We don't have total control and we never will. We have to focus on the things we have control over in these times. We cannot be meek. We must demand things from Washington and Raleigh. Tell them what we expect. Rally the people of this community to demand things from the state and federal government. It is time for us all to work overtime on things that we may not get paid for.
I haven't made a penny off of anything related to this blog. I know that nothing will ever be perfect, but if I can contribute to making Hickory the city it can and should be, then this will have been the greatest investment I have ever made in my lifetime.
Responding to:
Instead they have mandated things on high, because they see what they are doing in Asheville or Greensboro or Raleigh or Yada, yada, yada....We could have been doing what is in the best interest of our unique situation. We've had plenty of image and little (actually no) substance.
I'm reminded of the first law of geography: "What works in one place will not necessarily work in another." The professor then had an awesome example of how Philadelphia tried to build a canal just like New York did (NY's canal effectively took away most commercial shipping from Philadelphia), with disastrous results (there was a cliff in the way).
I think Hickory has played the same game of reacting instead of having a strong, progressive vision for the future that's uniquely Hickory.
Harry mentions education in a recent post and that's definitely something worth discussing soon.
(Edit for Understanding) -- I meant "the negative relations with businesses over the open storage laws," not open container. Such as the problems between the City and Shook Builder's Supply.
Among the many things the people who run companies look at when deciding where to bring new jobs is momentum. The report on new jobs in Catawba County last year in today's Hickory Daily Record at least shows companies that other businesses are still interested in coming here. The Wall Street Journal article that unfairly makes the Hickory Metro out to be one of the most depressed areas in the country could easily do the opposite. Outside companies might see that and decide not to come here.
Gotta love the blogosphere ;(. I don't really know anything, but I've got a negative opinion and, wow! the Wall Street Journal wants to hear it!
Spare me...
You obviously are defensive about something, because this blog is as much positive as it is negative. I'm just not positive about the lack of leadership in this region. This blog is about people, not bureaucrats.
Where is the positive momentum when we have lost over 28,000 jobs in this region since 2000? We have lost 7,500 jobs in the Unifour this year. I can't make this stuff up. Those stats are from the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
I know a lot. I know that this recession isn't about psychology. I know that when you lose your job that it's hard to pay bills. I know that people can't pay their mortgage if they don't have a job. I know when people lose their homes that it depresses home values. I know that everybody that loses their job can't be placed into the restaurant business or a call center. I know that the service and retail sector will suffer when it loses customer base, because more and more people are unemployed or underemployed. I know that when you have this many people occupationally displaced that you depress wages in this region. The fear is real and palpable.
When you are out of work, you don't have time to wait for the Economic Development Corporation to transition our economy into a service industry area. Service industry jobs do not create value. The EDC has been in existence for years and now we finally see some urgency. Everything has been done in secrecy and then you try and tell me that I'm not in the know, so I'm not entitled to have an opinion? I am just making summations based upon results!!!
I am positive about a lot of things. I know that if the people don't tolerate the predicament that we are in, then we can change things. 7,500 jobs lost from January to November. 4,200 jobs tentatively scheduled to come here over the next 5 years (that would be 840 per year). Elementary math. Where is this supposed momentum?
Where is the accountability?
In response to Anonymous:
Gotta love the blogosphere ;(. I don't really know anything, but I've got a negative opinion and, wow! the Wall Street Journal wants to hear it!
And how does sarcasm help? It certainly doesn't validate your point, which was interesting until you gave in to your baser instincts.
Now to your point. The WSJ seems to imply Hickory is one an exemplar city, meaning we represent a trend. Hickory was hurt by the last downturn, made modest changes to adjust, and now a second downturn, especially of this magnitude, could be disastrous.
James' critique is that City officials haven't done enough to change Hickory; however, without this second downturn I think his critique wouldn't have been realized or considered by many for some time (nothing against James).
I think what we all agree on is that Hickory has potential and is worth investing our time, energy, and resources into, which is why we blog and comment and shop and do a host of other things.
So all sarcasm aside Anonymous, what can Hickory do to make itself more appealing to business, the universities, etc.? All input is not only welcome, but needed. That includes the positive and the negative.
Anonymous' comment on business leaders being turned away from considering Hickory deserves some comment. First, no sane person or committee would locate a business or decline to locate a business somewhere because of a newspaper article, even the WSJ. The infrastucture, tax rates, regulatory environment, amenities, workforce quality and availability, and other technical factors are of much more importance that a newspaper article and momentum is only one factor.
Secondly, as any salesman knows, there is perception and there is reality. Sales occur because the good/service sold is perceived to have some value. But to build a long term business (or city economy) success will come become when the perception is good because the good/service is good. You can sell some junk once, but will the customer come back if they aren't really getting a good value?
Let's look into Hickory's situation and see what the reality is. First, we have to have an honest assessment of where we are. The fact is we drifted for years after the furniture/textile/fiber optic bust with little momentum. We have had some good news with the call centers, MDI, Target, and some others lately. We are thankful for that and these are definite wins for this area. But some of these jobs won't come into being for a couple of years and there aren't enough of them to make up for the losses we have suffered and continue to suffer.
Secondly, we just can't have leadership that wants to cheerlead without taking the right steps. Economic development needs to be much more aggressive. We have low taxes, good access to water and utilities, good climate, a great theatre, symphony,art museum, proximity to mountains, beaches, airports and many more things than can be listed here. GET OUT AND SELL IT.
Thirdly, we have to challenge our citizens. Our drop out rate is a shame and government can't do that for us. The educational levels of our area is a weakness and needs a lot of work for a long time.
Finally, we need a leader that articulates a vision for the area. People need a vision and goal for the future. Some may laugh now but someday Hickory will have skyscrapers like Charlotte, Public transportation will actually carry a lot of folks around. Some of the high end retailers and restarants that, today, wouldn't have a large enough customer base will be here and make money. People from other areas may come here for concerts, to view and buy Catawba County pottery or wood crafts.
The possibilities are real and possible but we will never get there without an honest look at who we are and accepting the responsibility for our City and quit blaming "outside forces". Darn few people became successful because someone gave wealth and power, most had to do a gut check and make it happen.
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