Columbus: A New Economy (Commerce, Washington: extended stay, appointed, 2009)

[ATLCOL1]

Originally Posted by BradleyCasonga

MrGreg,
Thanks for slowing these folks down a little bit.
It would be nice to get some concrete answers rather than insults etc.

ROFL, he is writing that because of you! Like he says, calm down, take a deep breath, and relax.....you need to unwind some.

Off to Lake Harding for some skiiing, have a great day now Bradley!

[BradleyCasonga]

Originally Posted by ATLCOL1

ROFL, he is writing that because of you! Like he says, calm down, take a deep breath, and relax.....you need to unwind some.

Off to Lake Harding for some skiiing, have a great day now Bradley!

It is plain for all to see that he did not mention anything you quoted him as saying and you have once again been reported.
Greg has already warned you guys on presenting insults etc.
Please refrain from this or you will be reported again.
Answer the questions with something reputable rather than personal opinions and attacks.

[BradleyCasonga]

Since Columbus is notorious for being a low wage town it will be interesting to see the effect this and BRAC will have on local businesses that have taken advantage of workers.
It will definitely be a win for city workers and a financial blow for existing local businesses looking to keep wage costs down

[BradleyCasonga]

The Columbus metropolitan area certainly has taken its lumps over the last decade.
There were 27,000 goods-producing jobs in the city and its metro suburbs in 2000, according to Georgia Department of Labor data. That number plunged nearly 40 percent, to 16,300 jobs, by the end of 2008.
During that time, several thousand textile positions evaporated locally with Pillowtex Corp. going out of business and Swift Galey moving work overseas.
Another manufacturer, W.C. Bradley Co., which makes Char-Broil grills, moved production to China in 2006, eliminating 600 full-time positions and about 1,000 seasonal jobs as well as Goodys/Newell in January 09.
Cessna in Columbus has layoffed workers twice this year and closed down for the month of June with more layoffs in July.
NCR will barely graze the local workforce problem as it is factoring in a 5 year spread of employment with too many tax credits to supplement sales tax increases at barely 2mill p/y
Now to make insult to injury the state is lifting the homestead exemption for property taxes in the city which will raise rates to nearly $350 more per year.
Columbus tax offices are sending notices out now to warn people before the oct/dec payments are due.
Negative....no Reality....yes

[BradleyCasonga]

Originally Posted by ATLCOL1

Posting your nonsense in 2 topics.....weak.

Just following your lead with the Ga Trend magazine article rehash you run on here every week or 2...
Thanks and hope you didn't eat any fish....lol

[ATLCOL1]

Originally Posted by BradleyCasonga

Just following your lead with the Ga Trend magazine article rehash you run on here every week or 2...
Thanks and hope you didn't eat any fish....lol

Glad to hear you are reading all of the positive articles on the growth that is on the way...I am glad to hear it .

[BradleyCasonga]

Originally Posted by ATLCOL1

Glad to hear you are reading all of the positive articles on the growth that is on the way...I am glad to hear it .

That post makes me think you did eat the fish...

[Akhenaton06]

This interactive map from USA Today shows Columbus as one of only a handful of metro areas expected to show positive job growth before this year is over.

[ATLCOL1]

Originally Posted by Akhenaton06

This interactive map from USA Today shows Columbus as one of only a handful of metro areas expected to show positive job growth before this year is over.

Thank you for sharing that information, some people just don't get it! Maybe that will help!

[ATLCOL1]

Columbus job market expected to recoup losses by 2011

A leading economic forecasting consultant is projecting that the Columbus metro area will not rebound to its pre-recession employment peak until late 2012.

But two top economists in Georgia say such a wait for local job recovery appears much too gloomy. Instead, the city should have most of its recessionary damage behind it by mid- to late 2011.

“I can think of no other place in the state that I’m more bullish on than Columbus,” said Jeff Humphreys, an economist and director of the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth.

“Definitely, you’re ahead of the curve,” he said. “You have huge projects in the economic development pipeline. You have the largest public- and private-sector projects in the state with Fort Benning and Kia. And those are pretty immediate. Those projects have been in the works for quite awhile.”

The 2012 prediction came from IHS Global Insight. IHS is a leading economic forecaster and consultant to many businesses, agencies and educational institutions that rely on accurate projections.

Humphreys also doubts the forecast by IHS Global Insight has factored in Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corp.’s recent decision to open an automated teller machine plant in Columbus later this year, employing about 870 people. The bulk of those jobs will be created in the first three years.

South Korean automaker Kia is constructing an auto assembly plant in West Point, Ga., about 45 minutes north of Columbus. It should open before the end of this year and will employ 2,500 workers. A cluster of auto parts suppliers around the plant will raise that number past 7,000.

Fort Benning, meanwhile, is pushing toward an expansion that will see its military and civilian employment increase by 11,400. After adding in family members, the city will see its population grow by about 28,000 when the U.S. Army’s Infantry and Armor Schools combine to become the Maneuver Center of Excellence.

“We have a lot of stuff hitting here all at the same time,” said Vicky Langston, associate professor of economics and chair of the Department of Accounting and Finance at Columbus State University. “I can’t imagine how it would take us until 2012 to get back to pre-recession employment levels. I don’t believe that.”
U.S. Bureau of Labor data show Columbus reaching its peak employment of 123,136 workers in December 2006, Langston said. Preliminary statistics from April show the metro area with a work force of 117,616. That’s a difference of about 5,500 jobs.
The city should recover as many as 1,700 of those lost positions with NCR alone, she said. That’s because for every worker the plant employs, the city should add jobs from business and government positions being created to support the growth.

“It’s called the multiplier effect,” Langston said. “That says that when we add one job, that person takes their money and spends it in the community and, given the nature of those expenditures, for one job you get somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9 additional jobs. Those are primarily service-sector jobs — government, teachers, retail, fire and police jobs.”

Langston and Humphreys expect the recession in Columbus to wane by late this year or in the first quarter of 2010. Then the growth will begin, with the metro area’s employment rising steadily through 2011.

IHS Global Insight forecasts that most of the U.S. won’t even begin returning to normal employment until 2012. It may take a third of the country until 2014 to heal on the job front.

“I think for Columbus, 2010 is going to be a really, really strong year because of Kia ramping up, NCR starting and everything happening with Fort Benning,” Humphreys said. “I’m confident that you’re going to beat that (Global Insight) forecast by a full year, if not a year and a half.”

That analysis comes from an economist who has used IHS Global Insight’s software and services for nearly 20 years at the Selig Center. He called the consulting firm the “gold standard” when it comes to economic forecasting.

Still, Humphreys said, “I recognize the limitations of modeling for basically every metro area in the country. It’s very hard to factor in the qualitative things that you and I can factor in because we have that local, native intelligence. We know about NCR. We know about Kia. We know about all of the stuff at Fort Benning. And we know it in a much more detailed way than any economic model could possibly capture.”

The economist did say IHS Global Insight is likely on the mark for the nation. Georgia, meanwhile, could lag slightly behind the U.S. recovery, he said. The journey out of recession for the state will include more job losses into the first quarter of 2010, Humphreys said, although the work force bleeding should slow. At the same time, overall business production will begin to rise in the fourth quarter of this year or early next year.

Then employers likely will end any furloughs of its workers and bring part-time workers back to full-time, he said. Full-timers will see more hours.

“They’ll work their existing work force harder before they start to hire,” said Humphreys, who also had tough news for those who have experienced pay cuts over the last 18 months. “It will be 2012 or 2013 before there is any meaningful pressure on (raising) wages.”