ibrown@themeridianstar.com



The succession of newspaper headlines and breaking news stories of cutbacks and closings of several local and area businesses in recent days has triggered some panic among residents.

After 107 years, The Newton Record Newspaper will print its last edition on Wednesday. Operations at The Golden Moon Casino have been cut back to Friday-Sunday, while Delco Remy and Roadway plan large employee cutbacks. And much to the dismay of shoppers, Pier 1 Imports and Goody's will close their doors. While concern is understandable, even expected, local officials say there is no need to panic.

"We have to understand we are part of a national economy, and everyone knows the national economy is facing dire straits," said Mayor John Robert Smith.

"This is a national problem that no one city anywhere can reverse. It will reverse in course as the national economy improves."

East Mississippi Business Development Corporation President Wade Jones agrees, adding that residents should consider the recession from a global perspective, not just from jobs lost and closings.

"It's important that our citizens recognize that this is very real, it's very serious. We are in difficult economic times nationally, and it will take a number of years to return to the economy that we enjoyed at least a couple of years ago, when we saw the downturn in the housing industry," said Jones, who, as a member, recently met with the Momentum Mississippi Steering Committee, Gov. Haley Barbour's strategic planning committee for economic development.

The current recession is expected to be as deep and as long as those experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s. And while the housing and automotive industries have received much of the media attention, Jones said every economic sector is being affected.

Smith said despite recent announcements of closings for Pier 1 and Goody's, local retail sales have maintained throughout the current economic downfall.

"However, we cannot expect to be immune from it. When you have national chains that nationally are having great financial difficulty, including bankruptcy at the national level, it would be naive to assume that that would not impact that chain's locations in Meridian," Smith said.

He said the store closings are not a sign of economic health in Meridian, but of national economic times and trends.

" ... And with certain retailers, they simply cannot survive the down turn," he said.

December revenue reports for Meridian will not be available for another two months. As in the past, optional spending for the city is delayed until then.

"The parking lots were full, but we won't know until we get those figures," he said. "Christmas is the biggest source of sales tax revenue for the city. We will wait and see what those results are."

What can the community do during this economic crisis? Smith and Jones both emphasized the importance of spending locally.

"Do not spend over the Internet or in other cities," Smith said. "Get out there and spend your dollars locally."

Jones said one reason the Meridian area has fared so well thus far is because of the number of local businesses.

"Many of our major employees in Meridian are homegrown industries, they're entrepreneurs, who made an investment – they took the risk and now they provide employment, like we see in the Structural Steel Industry and healthcare, which boasts 6,000 employees," he said.

"So in many ways we are more secure because we have local ownership. But in particularly and in a recession, we may not be hit as hard as other communities that don't have an Air National Guard, NAS Meridian and our healthcare base. Those are fairly stable, even though they may be impacted to some extent."

In addition to spending dollars locally, Jones also advises residents to be resourceful, more efficient. He also said the community must be prepared to capitalize on investments companies will make being in the Southeast.

"They'll move for markets with lower operating costs and workforce," he said. "We want to demonstrate that we have that here – for the aerospace industry, distribution, automotive and call centers."

And nurture existing businesses and industries.

"We need to be postured to help local businesses during this time of recession to make sure their experiences are good – whether they are expanding an operation or dealing with a state or local issue, whether they are building a facility or needing additional workforce. We've got to respond to those needs as a community."

Jones said at in this time of global recession it is critical that the community focus even more on education.

" ... What a better time to make sure that we are engaged parents and as representatives of business and our public schools to assist in any way that we can to improve the performance of our children ... In order to be competitive when we come out of this recession, we've got to have the workforce in play," he said.

"That means we've got to assist the Meridian and Lauderdale County Public Schools and Meridian Community College and their programs and encourage those – especially those who may have lost their jobs or are having to take another job – to acquire skills that allow them to even achieve a higher wage."