Jul 25, 2007
By BULLETIN STAFF. The Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp.’s approach of targeting all economic development sectors, not just manufacturing, is paying off, President and CEO Mark Heath told the Henry County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Heath brought numbers showing that manufacturing jobs in the county and Martinsville at the end of the 2006 fiscal year dropped to 8,821 from8,899 at the same time in 2005, a decrease of 78. The drop is part of a downward trend that has been happening since at least 1996, when there were 16,994 manufacturing jobs, he said.
However, during the same period, jobs in all sectors increased by 466, from 29,000 to 29,466, he said.
That is the first growth in the area’s job base since 1996, when there were 39,457 jobs in all job sectors.
Heath said that even though the EDC still aggressively targets large industrial development, the economy has changed and it often is better to work with small and minority business, non-manufacturing industry, tourism and others.
“You’re better off to have 10 companies with 100 employees than one with 1,000,” he said.
Heath admitted the job growth figures do not show some major manufacturing closings from this spring and that the figures might be down at the end of this year. However, he said he believes that even if they are it will not take as long, at least not 10 years, to get back to job growth because the local economy is more stable.
Heath said there are good jobs available for Henry County residents, at least those who can pass drug tests and background checks. They might not be as well paying as some jobs in the past or dream jobs, but they are here, he said.
The EDC is working with local companies to help bring the workers to them with upcoming job fairs, including working with Smart Machines for a job fair for welders Saturday and Knauss Foods for a job fair Aug. 4. He said the EDC also is talking to MasterBrand Cabinets about holding a fair.
Heath said that at a recent fair for upholstery jobs, about 206 people attended and seven people were offered jobs.
Another tier of the EDC’s strategy is to focus on supporting and growing existing industry. Heath shared statistics from the EDC’s annual report that showed existing area businesses have added 591 new jobs and $50.84 million in capital investment since the EDC was founded in 2004.
Heath said the area has been knocked out of the running for some major regional development, such as an IKEA furniture facility and a supplier for that facility, because it lacks some infrastructure such as large graded lots with access to rail. However, he said, the county recently has taken steps toward correcting those problems by taking options on sites for two potential new industrial parks.
He said people often compare Henry County and Martinsville to Danville. Some of the positive things Danville has seen in recent years date back to an industrial park feasibility study it commissioned 25 years ago, Heath said. Taking the long view, he said, the actions the city and county take today may pay off years, even decades in the future.
These improvements are “tools” the EDC needs to do its job effectively, he said.
As the supervisors asked questions after his presentation, Heath said the county is not desperate and should try to seek out higher paying jobs instead of accepting low paying industries that would damage the job market and fail to attract workers from other areas.
The area does not need to accept lower paying jobs than workers are used to because companies that relocate here may come from places where pay is higher or can improve their project margins simply through the lower cost of doing business here, he said.
One issue Heath said needs to be addressed is making sure area workers have the education and training needed for the available jobs and are able to pass a drug screening.
