Mayor Wright was on Hal Rowe’s radio show last week addressing the challenges that face Hickory. He blamed current issues on “having to deal now with the effects of the National and State economy” and said, “our unemployment rate has ratcheted back up, it is not as high as it once was, but it is discouraging.”
Later he stated that we had added 1,400 jobs here in Hickory and that did not include outlying areas. He mentioned Williams-Sonoma, MDI, Convergis, and FedEx (now we find out that those numbers are from Scott Millar of The Economic Development Corporation). He stated that these jobs would offset job losses and that from an economic development standpoint that this has been an excellent year.
Now for a dose of Hickory Hound reality: In my opinion this presentation was purely political spin. These 1,400 jobs are definitely not counting in current employment statistics. An objective look at the numbers show that this has been a dreadful economic year for Hickory. It is nice, that the City’s budget is in order and has a $2 million surplus, but frankly the near term future looks bleak. How long will that “Rainy Day” fund last under current circumstances?
Unemployment is up 2.2% in Catawba County to 8.3%. Statistics show that we have lost approximately 1,401 jobs in this county this year (January through October) and 3,513 in the Unifour (January to September). We have been hit a lot harder than the state or the nation.
The worst part is that local officials take no responsibility for the causes of this situation. This area has been in a malaise since 2001. Since the employment peak of June 2000, we have lost 9,290 jobs in Catawba County and 24,493 jobs in the Unifour. Under any guidelines, this is failure.
In Catawba County, since May 2001, we have only had monthly unemployment lower than 5% one time. Disastrously, during this period, we have not had a single month where we had a better unemployment rate than the state or nation. 56 of the succeeding 89 months have seen Catawba County at least 1% worse than the state’s unemployment rate and in comparison to the National rate, we have been at least 1% worse in 63 out of 89 months. Where is the accountability?
Local government leaders have stood by and watched our manufacturing base shrivel, while constantly telling us our economy is turning around. The numbers don’t lie. The time has long since passed for results. If this were a corporation, we would have changed management teams a long time ago. These results are inexcusable under any criteria. What would Donald Trump say?
The Hounds Point : I do not understand why this has not been published. Does this seem too controversial to any of you? I just question Mayor Wright and Scott Millar's numbers and why they have been presented this way. It seems as though the Hickory Daily Record wants to go along with anything our bureaucratic leaders say, even if it doesn't add up.
In the blog article below I have links that show the statistics cited in this article. I sent those statistics in with this submission. I have always been honest, thorough, and straight forward in my submissions to the Record.
The Record, in the last few days, has begun deleting any comments that I make to their online site that make reference to this site. I have not spammed their site. I only make reference to this site when I feel that one of their stories has relevance to this site. I also reference their paper as source material and have a link to their paper listed at the bottom right side of this page. I have always been more than fair to the Hickory Daily Record.
I have been disappointed lately by their general lack of any in-depth journalism on the relevant issues in this city. They have decided to become the equivalent of a school newspaper and that is their choice. They own their newspaper and if they have directly decided not to stir up any controversy or question the "Powers That Be" on relevant issues, then so be it. But in my opinion, when they do this, they throw away any modicum of journalistic integrity and become a marketing tool for local bureaucrats.
With all we have seen in the city of Hickory and the Unifour, Is that really what we need?
