Economic growth has been present during pressing times

  • By Meena Ghaziasgar
  • March 4, 2010
  • 604
                        
As the state of the economy continues to make headlines, Americans are trying to cope with one of the longest recessions to hit the U.S. in decades. At the local level, leaders such as Rod Crider, president of the Wayne Economic Development Council (WEDC) and Jeff Griffin, executive director of the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce, are trying to do everything they can to support local businesses and economic development in Wooster and Wayne County. Ohio’s unemployment rate was 10.9 percent in December of 2009, up from 10.6 percent in November, according to data released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The unemployment rate for Ohio is above the national average. Wooster and Wayne County were not immune to the effects of the economic downturn. Last year presented the same challenges felt throughout the country. “I think one of the major challenges for us was basically a slow economy nationwide,” said Crider. “There were fewer companies that were expanding and growing businesses and looking for new locations.” Despite the slowdown, things were not all gloom and doom locally. “We still did pretty well in Wayne County for sure,” added Crider. “We had a number of good things that happened across the county--and one of our strengths is the diversity of our [local] economy. While we were impacted, we were not hit as hard as other areas--the J.M. Smucker Co. and Wooster Community Hospital both expanded, and one automotive supplier--Tekfor, Inc., is expanding as well. So we’ve had a number of businesses experience some growth.” Despite the good news, uncertainty about how quickly the economy can recover is leading to a cautious attitude and outlook for the coming year.  “I do think there’s some uncertainty about the direction of the economy, and people are taking a cautious approach to investing in businesses and increasing their production, until they get a better sense of what the future looks like economically,” said Crider. “While they are cautiously optimistic about 2010, they are approaching it with a little bit of uncertainty, hesitation, and caution.” According to Crider, the WEDC is going to continue to execute the strategic plan that the organization initiated several years ago. But he did note that there will a stronger focus and emphasis on business retention from prior years. The council will continue to work with existing businesses to help them identify their needs in order to thrive and succeed. Likewise, Griffin said that he and the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce are doing everything they can to help local businesses get through the downturn. He noted that in this economy, it’s been a challenge for small businesses to secure the financing and resources they need to grow or stay afloat. “Some of the unemployment in the area is due to businesses downsizing due to the recession and, quite frankly, they are slow to bring people back,” said Griffin. “And in some cases, some employers are finding they can do more with less, and they will be slow to bring people back--partially because they are fearful of government mandates.” The Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce has 800 members, and they are committed to helping their members retain and grow their businesses. “We’ve been working with small business owners by giving them access to SCORE,” said Griffin. SCORE is a free program for small business owners and offers online and face-to-face business counseling, mentoring, and training. “The chamber has access to so much retired and existing talent--if we have people with specific needs, we can bring them together,” added Griffin. “We can offer them mentoring and free support through the work the chamber always does marketing properties, space, infrastructure, etc.” “Despite the challenges we saw in 2009, I would like to highlight that we have some members and businesses that are grabbing market share during this downtime, and some are on the rise,” stated Griffin.


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