Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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Mark Heath |
Sunday, October 18, 2009
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The 2,388 jobs created in the area over the last five years do not represent a net gain of new positions.
“We’ve lost more jobs than we’ve gained” in that period, said Mark Heath, president and CEO of the Martinsville and Henry County Economic Development Corp., who discussed the jobs figures at last week’s Martinsville City Council meeting.
With job losses approaching 3 million so far this year in the U.S., Heath said it “would be naive to think” this area would escape some of those cutbacks.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nationwide, employment declined in September by 263,000, according to an Oct. 2 release at www.bls.gov. Construction, manufacturing, retail trade and government reported the biggest losses.
The number of the unemployed Americans has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million since the December 2007 start of the recession, according to the report.
“What’s going on here is going on worldwide,” Heath said. “We hope people see that our competition is not Danville” or any other area within a 50-mile radius, but rather the world.
The jobs announced at the city council meeting were intended to provide information to EDC investors, which include the city of Martinsville, Henry County, the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce, the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber’s Partnership for Economic Growth (C-PEG) and the Harvest Foundation, Heath said.
The job creation, while modest, show the EDC is “the right kind of program” to lead the area forward when the economy improves, he said.
The 2,388 jobs were created in different sectors, including 1,060 in manufacturing; 263 in distribution; 873 in office; and 192 in small business.
They “are just from the projects we have been involved in,” Heath said. Projects that did not involve the EDC are not included in the five-year tally.
For instance, the 99 jobs announced by Stanley Furniture Co. when it moved a portion of production for its Young America line to Stanleytown were not included in the EDC’s total, he said.
That is one reason the numbers announced by the EDC do not match those listed at yesvirginia.org, a Web site maintained by the state which lists all the job announcements in Martinsville and Henry County along with details such as which companies added the positions.
Also, jobs created at small businesses are not reflected on the Web site, Heath said. The EDC tracks those jobs.
Between 2004 and 2009, information at the state site shows a total of 2,851 jobs were announced in Henry County, with a total investment of $193 million.
Job announcements include the 99 positions at Stanley Furniture; 145 at Monogram Food Solutions LLC (formerly Knauss Snack Food Co.); a total of 725 at StarTek Inc.; 94 at American of Martinsville; 30 at Bobby Hamilton Racing; 150 at RTI International Metals Inc.; 10 at Moehler Engineered Products; 45 at Accretive Commerce; 40 at EMI Imaging; 43 at Applied Felts, 30 at GS Industries of Bassett Inc.; 160 at Gildan Activewear Inc.; five at J.G. Edelen Co. Inc.; 77 at Bassett Furniture Industries; 18 at Oak Level Finishing & Repair Inc.; 25 at Ridgeway Furniture Products; 200 at Texturing Services; 40 at Northpoint Trading Co.; 45 at CPFilms Inc.; 50 at Shenandoah Furniture; 75 at HT Motorsports; and 745 at MasterBrand Cabinets Inc.
During the same period in Martinsville, a total of 537 new jobs and a $23 million investment were announced, according to the Web site.
The biggest gain was 188 new jobs at UK West, but also listed are Solid Stone Fabrics, 24; SPARTA Inc., 25; D&D Furniture, 10; LifePoint Hospitals Inc., a total of 33; Smart Machine Technologies Inc., 15; Medical Data Systems Inc., 80; Tier Technologies, 77; Blue Ridge Mountain Cabinets, 25; Applied Felts, 35; and MSR Industries, 25.
A state Senate Finance Committee report shows 989 jobs were lost in 2004; 252 in 2005; and 1,960 in 2008, which is the most recent date available.
The report showed the area had net job gains of 466 in 2006 and 94 in 2007, the report showed. |
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