The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Business

January 8, 2009

Local officials find silver linings in economic storm clouds

By Joe Pinchot

MERCER COUNTY — While the news lately has been full of stories about job losses, company closings, mortgage foreclosures and federal government bailouts, local officials said there are some silver linings in the storm clouds.

“There are some successes,” John Holliday, executive director of PMI-Shenango Valley, Sharon, told the Hermitage Community and Economic Development Commission Thursday. “All we hear about is doom and gloom.”

To start with the doom and gloom, Mercer County’s unemployment rate is the highest it has been in years. But, a little research into that figure showed that the county’s economy has diversified from the way it used to be, said Angela Palumbo, manager of Mercer County Careerlink.

Officials are used to being able to easily pinpoint the reasons for economic weaknesses because of the county’s history as a manufacturing center. In the past, a significant spike in the unemployment rate could be blamed on layoffs from one or two major employers, she said.

That is no longer the case, Ms. Palumbo said. State officials told her that Mercer County’s recent unemployment has been the result of a small number of layoffs from a large number of small companies.

“It’s unreal,” she said. “This is a different time for us to see all these different places ... laying off some folks.”

Holliday said he has seen two things happening as a result of the job losses: Workers are looking to improve their skills, and employers are seeking to improve the skills of their employees.

When the economy turns around and businesses start hiring again, employers should be able to pick from a better-trained candidate base, he said.

Somewhat lost in the stories of job losses are the companies that have not had to cut people, Ms. Palumbo said.

“There are employers that are hanging in,” she said.

She said she knows of a manufacturing company that has recently hired a small number of employees and would hire more if it could find qualified people.

Hermitage City Manager Gary P. Hinkson said he met with large employers of Hermitage residents at budget time to get a sense of what 2009 could be like for them.

“It was not all negative,” he said, noting that some projected stability or growth.

Development in the city was down for 2008 when compared with the last two years, but Hinkson noted there are some small residential and commercial projects in the offing, including an impending branch of Farmers National Bank.

“We’re not completely stagnated,” Hinkson said.

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