Employment in Gaylord (friend)

[wonderkind]

I just called a friend of mine in gaylord that has a store there so this is first hand.
Burnside RV has went out of business,Kbiet out of business,Georiga Pacific out of business and many of smaller bussiness out of business.
The person I talked to said that he and his wife were at starbucks and there was a posistion they were hiring to sling coffee, a woman ahead of him asked for an aplication, the manager came over and said that he would give her one but he had over 100 aplicants under the counter.
over 100 people that apply to sling coffee is not a growing economy.
Do not listen to these people who can not even get the population right.
Property is not moving, this I got from coldwell banker Lisa jarski, she was optomistic last winter but now does not know what to think.
I was there personaly last spring and talked to a woman working at benfranklin store, she said gaylord was the fastet growing city in the usa. I know my eyes got wide, How can you stand there and spew this crap, have you never been to las vegas I so wanted to ask here scarcasticly? Are you that stupid with all the business that are going out of business with all the homes being forclosed on? With the neg growth, the highest unemployment rate, gaylord at 11%? Please tell me what the color of the sky is in your wold, or at minimum the name of your dealer because he is selling some good stuff.

[Butternut]

This just breaks my heart. I have always loved to visit Michigan and especially the northern areas. Oh, if only 9/11 hadn't happened. Things have gone downhill ever since....our area too is very depressed in more ways than one.

[scottmi]

Um, 9/11 had nothing to do with our economy...I honestly don't see how two planes hitting into a couple buildings had anything directly to do with Gaylord's current state of crappiness.

Truth is, 9/11 has been the scapegoat for lazy politicians who want to keep the focus on a useless war and ridiculous govt. spending instead of even acknowledging the existence of a recession.

I don't blame the politicians for causing the recession but I do blame them for not doing something about it (*ahem* Granholm?)

[jy121]

I grew up in Gaylord and moved as far away from the place as I could. I joined the Navy and have only been back once in the last seven years. I do love the area, there are a lot of nice places to visit if you know where to look for them. Having said that, My father just closed down his office after more then 15 years. There is no job market in Gaylord unless you can play Golf for a living and I mean you really have to be in to it. I went home in Sep of this year for R&R from Afghan, let me tell you in seven years, yes the town has grown but so have the for sale signs in front yards.
Sad.

[MariAnnaW]

Originally Posted by jhm1122

My wife and I are looking into moving to Gaylord, and I am not able to find a lot about the job scene. If anyone could shed some light on that one, I would be greatfull. Thanks

Check out the website for Otsego Memorial Hospital, which is located in Gaylord. Also, refer to the Gaylord Herald Times for classified ads.

My family moved here three years ago from downstate Michigan due to job changes, and I have to say that we have been pleasantly surprised. The economic downturn is occurring throughout Michigan, and not just Northern Michigan. However, we are happy here and have been warmly welcomed into our new community. I would encourage anyone looking into moving into the area to come visit.

[littlebigman]

The job market in the nort of Michigan is always worse than down state, you can multiply it by 3x at least, there is much less opertunity than the larger areas. Just goes to reason.
If it were a perfect world I would have my home in north michigan for summers and south for winters, but it is not a perfect world, so one has to choose.
If I were to move back I would give Traverse City a good look.

[JGatti]

I just had to add my two cents to this topic. If you can drive through Gaylord and shake your head and say it is not growing, then you have no clue what the city was like 30 years ago. I recall Kmart being the big deal when they opened it. Now they have Home Depot, Lowes, ABC warehouse, new hotels, places to eat, do I need to go on? I'm not going to sugarcoat the situation. Everyone knows the economy in Michigan is bad. But as a 40 year old man who as always wanted to live in Gaylord, I see more jobs I am qualified for up there than down here often. Unless you start a company that has a chance or can get a high demand job( nurse, HVAC, or other skilled and educated jobs. Your not going to relocate and make a decent living. If you don't qualify for anything like this you won't make it anywhere.
I have been wanting to move my family to Gaylord for years. I love it. Great town with a ton of lakes and things to do. But still a little slow for my wifes taste. So we are looking to Traverse City when she is done with school. There are opportunities in northern Michigan. You just need to see them and take a chance.
As for the guy who says 9/11 has nothing to do with out economy. I do not understand how anyone could make that statement. Maybe it's not 9/11 directly. But our actions as a nation after 9/11 and the decision to go into Iraq, and **** away the 5 trillion dollar surplus, now we have a 9 trillion dollar deficit. Gas was $1.47 per gallon and Americans could purchase the automobile they wanted. The housing industry was booming( thats another story how the mortgage companies screwed up a lot of this) and America was on the rise. Now the entire nation is on a downswing. I was looking at houses in Phoenix a couple years ago because my brothers live there and offered me a job. There was nothing there for under $200,000 that I would even consider buying. Today the market in Arizona is almost as bad as Michigan. There are jobs, no doubt about that. But the housing market took a serious dump.
My advice to anyone thinking of relocating to Gaylord. Would be to go and spend some time there. See for yourself what the city is like. If your going seeking fortune understand the fortune in that area is the area itself. There is still a problem in northern Michigan in the fact that they still have the small town mentality. There was talk about an amusement park being built in Grayling ( 10 miles or so south of Gaylord) and many of the people there were opposed to it. A 4 season park in that area would be huge for them. Grayling was a dead town when I was a kid, Shame to because it has some nice things about it as well. Ok I'm done with my rant now.

[Driller1]

9/11 changed things forever in the US.

[Drmarvin]

Gaylord employment is getting very hard to come by. People are applying for jobs that they would not have looked twice at a couple of years ago.
I talked to the manager at gillroys got it center and he said that he could not keep the penski trucks in stock, they were running out as fast as they come in.

[ProjectPneumbra]

Originally Posted by JGatti

I just had to add my two cents to this topic. If you can drive through Gaylord and shake your head and say it is not growing, then you have no clue what the city was like 30 years ago. I recall Kmart being the big deal when they opened it. Now they have Home Depot, Lowes, ABC warehouse, new hotels, places to eat, do I need to go on? I'm not going to sugarcoat the situation. Everyone knows the economy in Michigan is bad. But as a 40 year old man who as always wanted to live in Gaylord, I see more jobs I am qualified for up there than down here often. Unless you start a company that has a chance or can get a high demand job( nurse, HVAC, or other skilled and educated jobs. Your not going to relocate and make a decent living. If you don't qualify for anything like this you won't make it anywhere.
I have been wanting to move my family to Gaylord for years. I love it. Great town with a ton of lakes and things to do. But still a little slow for my wifes taste. So we are looking to Traverse City when she is done with school. There are opportunities in northern Michigan. You just need to see them and take a chance.
As for the guy who says 9/11 has nothing to do with out economy. I do not understand how anyone could make that statement. Maybe it's not 9/11 directly. But our actions as a nation after 9/11 and the decision to go into Iraq, and **** away the 5 trillion dollar surplus, now we have a 9 trillion dollar deficit. Gas was $1.47 per gallon and Americans could purchase the automobile they wanted. The housing industry was booming( thats another story how the mortgage companies screwed up a lot of this) and America was on the rise. Now the entire nation is on a downswing. I was looking at houses in Phoenix a couple years ago because my brothers live there and offered me a job. There was nothing there for under $200,000 that I would even consider buying. Today the market in Arizona is almost as bad as Michigan. There are jobs, no doubt about that. But the housing market took a serious dump.
My advice to anyone thinking of relocating to Gaylord. Would be to go and spend some time there. See for yourself what the city is like. If your going seeking fortune understand the fortune in that area is the area itself. There is still a problem in northern Michigan in the fact that they still have the small town mentality. There was talk about an amusement park being built in Grayling ( 10 miles or so south of Gaylord) and many of the people there were opposed to it. A 4 season park in that area would be huge for them. Grayling was a dead town when I was a kid, Shame to because it has some nice things about it as well. Ok I'm done with my rant now.

Relating to the Amusement park idea. It is supposedly still in progress, and will be built in summer of 09 last I heard. I LIVE in Grayling, and though I do not question every person I meet when walking through one of the local stores, I have not heard a single person comment against the construction of the amusement park. In fact, the only comments I HAVE heard about it are people hoping it will open up sooner than later. How it will bring a fair amount of jobs to the local populous, and how people are optimistic about how it will bring more tourism from neighboring towns, since it will be the only amusement park within 200 miles of the area.
This isn't to say that what you claimed is wrong, since I can't exactly read the mind of everybody (nor would I want to, though how cool would that be? xD), but that's just my experience on the subject.