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8A
Tribune & Georgian
Friday, March 29,2013
Local survey shows positive economic indicators
Submitted photos
The Pulse of Camden study collected and analyzed empirical data, not anecdotes, from
Camden’s organizational executives and owners of small- and medium-sized businesses.
The empirical data consisted of the participants’ perspectives on local business condi
tions and was gathered from November 201 2 through December 201 2 via an online sur
vey. The response rate was roughly 10 percent (83 respondents), which is a typical
response rate for a survey of this type.
Jill Helton
publisher@tribune-georgian.com
The results of an annual
economic conditions survey
shows that businesses in
Camden County remain
pessimistic about the local
economy even though indi
cators showed improving
conditions in 2012.
“Things are improving,”
said Don Mathews, econom
ics professor for the College
of Coastal Georgia. “They
definitely improved in 2012
and they improved signifi
cantly at the end of 2012 and
that has continued into
2013.”
That trend was also seen
on a national scale with the
National Federation of In
dependent Business’ Small
Business Optimism Index,
which showed optimism de
clined toward the end of the
year, despite a significant
uptick in financial indicators.
Mathews presented the
findings of the survey on
Tuesday in a breakfast
meeting at the College of
Coastal Georgia that in
cluded about 50 govern
ment, education and
business representatives.
“We’re confident that our
survey results were pretty
reflective of the Camden
economy as a whole,” Math
ews said.
Mathews said unemploy
ment is down in Camden
County, inflation is low and
wages are increasing. The
local economy is showing
strong signs of recovery.
“I expect Camden to con
tinue to outperform the
coastal region. I’m a lot
more optimistic than you
seem to be,” he said.
Mathews acknowledged
that sequestration, which
calls for deep defense cuts,
remains a concern in a mili
tary community like Cam
den.
“It would clearly appear
that (sequestration) is here
to stay. I would not be sur
prised if there were further
defense cuts,” he said. “For
our region and our county,
that’s obviously a big deal.”
The data
The key findings of the
2012 Pulse of Camden study
were:
• Businesses were less pes
simistic in 2012 than in
2011.
• Input costs increased in
2012 and are expected to in
crease in 2013.
• Sales in 2012 were about
the same as the previous
year; businesses expect sales
to be about the same in
2013.
• Profits in 2012 were
about the same as 2011;
businesses expect profits to
be about the same in 2013.
• Businesses reported that
employment levels remained
the same in 2012 as 2011;
they expect about the same
in 2013.
• With regard to funding
public investment in infra
structure and education, the
highest proportion of re
spondents favored using a
combination of property and
sales tax revenues.
• The services in highest
demand were marketing and
business promotion (59 per
cent), followed by business
information/economic data
(52 percent) and legislative
representation/advocacy (52
percent).
• Ninety percent of re
spondents said out-of-
county customers account
for at least some portion of
their business; most have
some out-of-county suppli
ers.
• About 55 percent of
businesses surveyed said
they do not do business di
rectly with Kings Bay Naval
Submarine Base or its con
tractors; 38 percent said
none of their income is gen
erated by families and per
sonnel attached to the naval
base; and 32 percent said
families/personnel ac
counted for 1-20 percent of
their sales.
Read the full 2012 Pulse
of Camden report online at
www.camdenchamber.com
or at www.ccjda.com.
Looking ahead
“Camden has a history of
outperforming the U.S.
economy and the state econ
omy. That came to an end
temporarily in 2010,” Math
ews said. “This is just more
evidence that the recession
hit Georgia and Camden
worse than the nation.”
The numbers are re
bounding slowly. In 2012,
the average unemployment
rate was 7.7 percent in the
nation, 9.1 percent in Geor
gia and Camden, and 10.2
percent along the southeast
Georgia coast.
Mathews said he expects
the recovery to continue
into 2013, locally and na
tionally.
“We remain a long way
from full recovery, but the
economies of the U.S.,
Georgia, and Camden are
clearly stronger now than
they have been in years,” ac
cording to the survey sum
mary.
Survey respondents said
their greatest challenges in
the current local economy
were:
• Finding workers with
the right skills.
• Poor work ethic.
• Not being able to pay
enough to retain employees.
• Meeting payroll in a bad
economy.
• Significant workforce
challenges.
Despite this, Mathews said
Camden County has a qual
ity workforce when com
pared to other parts of the
state and the coastal region.
This is attractive to large
employers looking to locate
in the state or coastal region.
Know thyself
The Pulse of Camden
provides concrete data that
local business people can use
to make decisions, said
David Keating, director of
the Camden County Joint
Development Authority.
“We feel it is important to
research our market here in
Camden County. Good in
formation yields good deci
sion-making,” said Keating
during Tuesday’s presenta
tion.
The Pulse of Camden sur
vey is sponsored annually by
the Camden County Cham
ber of Commerce, Camden
County Joint Development
Authority and College of
Coastal Georgia. Brenau
University and Georgia Pa
cific also sponsored the 2012
survey and presentation.
Keating said it is impor
tant that business people’s
perceptions match reality.
He noted some of the posi
tive signs in the community,
from the opening of the new
Pilot truck stop on the inter
state to the possibility of
technical college campus
funding.
“Things appear to be
going in the right direction,”
he said.
Keating said it is vital that
the community invest in
making Camden County a
good place to do business.
Leslie Hamrick, presi
dent/CEO for the Camden
County Chamber of Com
merce, said the Pulse of
Camden is the only consoli
dated source for this type of
information.
“While we would all like
to see the economy
stronger, the report did re
veal that things were gener
ally improving. Our
challenge now will be find
ing or improving ways to
accelerate that progress.”
Applicants sought
The Camden County
Board of County Commis
sioners is seeking applicants
to fill one vacancy on the St.
Marys River Management
Committee as an at-large
county representative.
The St. Marys River
Management Committee is
an intergovernmental entity
of elected and appointed
members from four coun
ties along the St. Marys
River, including Camden,
Charlton, Nassau and Baker
counties.
The committee is made
up of individuals who are
involved because of a per
sonal commitment to the
St. Marys River.
The committee meets
monthly to discuss, develop
and implement plans and
programs in regard to the
St. Marys River. It prepares
and presents to each county
commission an annual re
port at the end of each fis
cal year, which summarizes
accomplishments of the
committee over the past
year and provides recom
mendations for future activ
ities as well as a financial
report.
Qualifications for appli
cants include the following:
The applicant must reside
in Camden County, have a
personal commitment to
the St. Marys River, have
the ability to actively partic
ipate in the efforts of the
committee and have the
ability to attend monthly
meetings generally held at 7
p.m. on the first Monday of
every month at the Nassau
County Building, located at
45401 Mickler St. in Calla
han, Fla.
Qualified applicants
should submit their intent
to serve to the Board of
County Commissioners of
fice at kberry@co.camden
.ga.us or via the county
website, www.co. cam
den.ga.us featured on the
homepage under Online
Services, Online Forms,
Citizen Board Application
Form.
The position shall remain
open until filled.
Those who have ques
tions may call (912) 576-
5651. More information is
available about the St.
Marys River Management
Committee at www.saint
marysriver.org.
The Camden County
Board of County Commis
sioners is seeking applicants
to fill one vacancy on the
Coastal Workforce Invest
ment Board (CWIB) as a
county representative.
The Coastal Workforce
Investment Board is com
prised of representatives
from each of the nine coun
ties included in Region 12:
Bryan, Bulloch, Camden,
Chatham, Effingham,
Glynn, Liberty, Long and
McIntosh.
The primary responsibil
ity of the board is to ensure
that workforce develop
ment programs within the
region operate effectively
and efficiently to support
the labor and job training
needs of all job seekers.
The focus of the CWIB
is on strategic planning,
policy development and
oversight of the local work
force system. The CWIB
consists of at least 51 per
cent private and 49 percent
public-sector representa
tion, including some man
dated partners.
The board of county
commissioners appoints
for county boards
members to the CWIB who
serve a term of three years.
Board and committee
meetings are held in Rich
mond Hill and Savannah.
Representatives of busi
nesses with employment
opportunities that reflect
the employment opportu
nities of the local area, as
well as owners of busi
nesses, chief executive or
operating officers, and em
ployers with optimal pol
icy-making or hiring
authority are encouraged to
apply.
Qualifications for appli
cants include the following:
Must reside in Camden
County, have the ability to
serve a term of three years,
have a personal commit
ment to the county and
constituents they represent,
have the ability to actively
participate in the efforts of
the board and committees
and have the ability to at
tend meetings and partici
pate on committees
generally held at the Rich
mond Hill City Center at
11 a.m., followed by lunch.
The remaining schedule
for CWIB meetings is as
follows: April 19, June 20-
21 (annual meeting and re
treat held in Savannah),
Aug. 16, Oct. 18, Dec. 20,
Feb. 21, 2014, April 18, and
June 19-20 (tentative an
nual meeting).
The CWIB committees
generally meet in the alter
nate months and schedules
are set by the individual
committee.
Qualified applicants
should submit their intent
to serve to the board of
county commissioners’ of
fice at kberry@co.camden
.ga.us or via the county
website, www.co.camden
.ga.us featured on the
homepage under Online
Services, Online Forms,
Citizen Board Application
Form.
The position shall remain
open until filled.
For more information,
call (912) 576-5651. More
information about the
Coastal Workforce Invest
ment Board is available at
www.coastalworkforce
services.org.
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