Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
■ FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS —Thursday, December 18,2003
RECOVERY from 1B
“Businesses are now spending
more,” he said, adding corporate
profits as a whole have risen 12
percent.
He said the profit increases
resulted from an increased
demand for business products
and that businesses have “done a
good job of cost cutting and
increasing efficiency.”
In Georgia, Humphreys said
the metro Atlanta area, which
includes Forsyth County, has
experienced the most growth in
the state job market. He said 95
percent of the new jobs in
Georgia are in the metro Atlanta
area.
But other regions in the state
are not as fortunate.
Humphreys said the only
other area in Georgia that has
experienced an economic boost is
the coastal region in and around
Savannah.
Layoffs in the manufacturing
industry have hurt local
economies in other state regions.
It’s a problem that’s been
ongoing since 1998, and it trou
bles Lawrence, he said.
”My concern is that since the
manufacturing decline began
prior to the recession it could
continue for some time,”
Lawrence said.
“When manufacturing is
declining and retail is growing it
becomes a little worrisome,” he
said, explaining retail jobs usual
ly pay less than manufacturing
jobs, which reduces the amount
of money flowing through the
economy.
"At some point in time you
need to find a balance where
employment in all industries sta
bilizes and shows some growth,”
Lawrence said.
Humphreys said the loss of
manufacturing jobs may stop by
the end of next year due to the
weakening value of the dollar.
He said a weak dollar makes
products more affordable locally
and globally, which in turn
increases demand and reduces
the likelihood of purchasing
goods from other nations.
However, he said bringing
back the 100,000 jobs lost in the
manufacturing industry since
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1998 will be difficult.
“This problem is not confined
to Georgia. We are becoming a
high cost producer of manufac
tured goods in the U.S.”
Humphreys said, adding a lot of
manufacturing jobs have moved
to China and other Asian coun
tries particularly in the cloth
ing and apparel industry.
“It could take easily a decade
or longer to add back the jobs
that we lost,” he said, “and we
may never add them back.”
Construction jobs also may
decline next year after low mort
gage interest rates caused a sharp
increase in the home buying mar
ket this year.
Lawrence said it’s expected
interest rates will rise next year.
He said the only question is
whether it will be a gradual or
speedy increase.
“That's going to be a key over
the next year is what’s going to
happen to interest rates,”
Lawrence said. “Most economists
feel they’re going to go up. A
gradual increase should be fine,
but rapid increase could possibly
cause a slowdown in real estate.”
Humphreys said after a record
year in real estate, there’s
nowhere to go but down.
“I think home building has
actually peaked,” he said.
Adding to construction con
cerns, Humphreys said new
buildings for businesses have
been built and are vacant and
awaiting leases, reducing the
need to build new ones.
“We have too many empty
buildings,” he said. “That will
rectify itself eventually.”
While manufacturing and
construction jobs remain con
cerns, most other job markets are
increasing.
“Almost everything is grow
ing,” Humphreys said, listing
examples of health care, and
business, financial and personal
services.
Lawrence said business
growth should translate into more
dollars spent in local economies.
“What we hope is to sustain
this recovery we need to continue
to see businesses spending
money,” he said.
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Photo/David McGregor
COATS FOR FOLKS: From left, Marvin Mattson of Andean
Chevrolet, Estes Miree and Dave Kacker of No Longer
Bound, and Travis Wright of Andean show a truckload of win
ter coats the Cumming vehicle dealership collected for No
Longer Bound and Jesse’s House.
EXPERTS from IB
company, hiring mentors is becoming a
trend for households and companies.
The ability to hire mentors saves a
company money in the future, consid
ering most problems companies have is
computers not working properly, said
Jay Ryerse, senior tech.
“If companies spend a little up
front, it saves them time and money,”
Ryerse said.
Two Tech Guys serves Forsyth
County and neighboring counties, with
90 percent of its clients located in
Forsyth.
According to Ryerse, the company
has more than 500 clients and has been
in business for more than two years.
The company also mentors to stu
dents in high schools and to Lanier
Technical Institute, said Ryerse,
Ryerse said the company's business
has been busy nonstop since it was
established.
CM IT Solutions, which operates a
franchise of Austin, Texas-based
Computer Moms (Mentors on the
Move), also serves as a computer men
tor to businesses and residences in the
north metro Atlanta area.
The company, owned and managed
by Robert and Pavan Funk out of their
home in south Forsyth, hires mentors
on a full- or part-time basis, according
to how many hours they may have
available to work, to go into homes and
businesses and mentor.
The company has been in business
for about 12 years, provides about 25
percent of its services to residences
and about 75 percent of its services to
businesses, according to Robert Funk.
Funk said she and her husband’s
operation is helpful to businesses and
residences in the community.
"We enjoy making someone else’s
life easier by helping them take control
of their computer,” she said.
The couple believes that it is indeed
a growing trend that businesses seek
out mentors for their network assis-
Forsyth County News
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BAZAAR from IB
Concetta said she is happy with her pro
fession. She said she is doing what she most
adores in life.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s my dream and
my goals have been built around this,” she
said.
Concetta was in the auction business
with her father for several years before she
opened the store, she said.
She said the business helped her gain a
sense of taste for small household items and
special items of decor for homes.
RATE from 1B
The labor market changes in the Georgia
Mountains region, which encompasses many
rural counties north of Interstate 285,
reflected changes in the metro area.
The metro area’s workforce increased
during the month by 5,965 jobs, represent
ing a total workforce of 2.44 million. The
number of unemployed residents in thq
metro area dropped from 117,436 in
September to 109,867 in October, lowering
the unemployment rate from 4.8 percent to
4.5 percent.
The highest unemployment rate in
Georgia was reported in Burke County near
Augusta, 10.5 percent. The lowest jobless
rate was in Towns County on the North
Carolina line in the Georgia Mountains
region, 1.6 percent.
tance, according to Funk.
“We believe personalized computer
training is a growing trend,” she said.
“After seeing other family members
who had owned businesses, becoming
business owners has been a lifelong
goal.
“In terms of why we chose this
business, computers are great tools,
but people don’t always fully utilize
them or make sure they are running
optimally. A lot of business people
can use training to become more pro
ductive.
“And for a lot of business owners,
computer maintenance and data back
ups are often overlooked until a serious
problem arises that is where we felt
there was a need that our consultative
approach to clients could help,” she
said.
The business currently employs
about six certified technicians and
serves the needs of about three clients
per day. Funk said.