The Numbers from the St. Louis Federal Reserve were released last night and they show improvement over the last month. (March to April's numbers).
Spreadsheet on Catawba County Unemployment
Catawba County's unemployment rate fell from 15.6% to 15%, the actual number of people signed up decreased from 11,995 people to 11,566 people. The previous month's workforce numbers increased from 76,892 people to 77,107 people. I am thankful and that is a good sign that we are seeing a positive movement in job growth in this community.
It was nice that the information was released about our county's possible landing of Apple's Server farm. While we aren't guaranteed to land Apple, it feels good when we are brought into the loop of what our Economic Development Corporation is pursuing. It certainly lifts the spirits to know that something is going on. We do need to move towards more innovative industries in this community. While Apple will only produce 50 jobs in the beginning, these types of high tech industries are exactly what we need and we need to get a foothold in that door. Besides, the building of that $1 billion plant and its infrastructure will produce a lot of jobs.
While the state doesn't collect $4.2 million in taxes annually (that they wouldn't get anyway, if Apple didn't come here). This enhances our big picture. High Speed fiber-optic wire is going to be laid to that plant. Higher than 100mb/sec. Google already has a pipeline. If those two pipelines are connected and networked, then this area will be a high speed broadband zone. As Terry Bledsoe (Catawba County's IT Director) pointed out, Wilson, NC already has 100mb/sec to businesses and 10mb/sec to the home. We need to get onboard.
Folks, that is what we need going into the future. That is the minimum speed we need (according to experts), moving forward to 2012. We can either move forward or continue drifting in this prideful malaise, that the area has been in for 10 years. This is one thing that this area can grab a hold of and embrace. We must invest in this infrastructure. It would definitely be something that our area could get ahead of the curve on. This is a "Big Picture" issue and company's like Google and Apple are a "Glass Slipper" fit into this area's Economic Equation.
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Friday, June 5, 2009
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I would do backflips if our county landed Apple. It's not just 50 jobs; it's a massive, massive construction project. Those 50 high incomes positions turn into expensive houses and cars being purchased. That's 50 families that will visit our restraunts and purchase the services of our small businessmen. I contend that the upper-middle class wage earners are the power source of any solid economy. Trickle down at work...
Having a modern high speed internet pipeline is going to be vital. It's not just online companies that rely on this technology. Anyone contructing a large, modern office building is looking for this kind of high end performance.
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