It appears the Commercial Crisis is starting to rear its ugly head.
From vermontbiz.com (VT):
Commercial development suffering more than most
With the exception of the Northeast Kingdom and Rutland County, both of which have suffered heavy job losses, Vermont’s economy has not been badly damaged by the national recession, says state Commerce Secretary Kevin Dorn.
But commercial development is at a standstill almost everywhere in Vermont, Dorn adds. “There aren’t a lot of big projects going on now other than at Jay Peak,” he notes.
Private developers have enjoyed little benefit so far from the federal stimulus package, says Vermont Chamber of Commerce chief Betsy Bishop. Road contractors, however, have gotten plenty of work this summer as a result of the sizable increases in federal spending on transportation projects, Bishop adds…..
A few economic development specialists suggest that activity could pick up in the state’s manufacturing sector in the coming months, leading perhaps to new capital outlays and job creation. Jamie Stewart, director of the Rutland Economic Development Corp, says that many businesses in Vermont and elsewhere “have reduced their inventories to the point where they’ll have to start buying again.”
And that could mean better times are coming for the manufacturing companies that, along with tourism, support the Rutland County economy, Stewart suggests.
A few Vermont industrial firms are already beginning to expand their workforce, often because they’ve won federal contracts and received state development incentives.
In addition, “Vermont’s spirit of entrepreneurship remains alive, no matter what the state of the economy,” Bishop observes. She notes that some state residents laid off from payroll jobs have launched their own businesses, some of which will likely achieve success in the coming years.
But the CEOs of Vermont’s 100 biggest companies aren’t feeling particularly bullish about the months ahead.
“People are sensing that there’s a change, that we’ve turned a corner, but there’s still so much uncertainty about the economy at the national level,” says Lisa Ventriss, director of the Vermont Business Roundtable.
Her group’s latest survey of CEOs finds growing optimism in regard to sales prospects but no heightening of expectations for hiring and capital spending.
Slightly more than 40 percent of the executives responding to a roundtable survey in July said they anticipate an increase in their companies’ sales in the next six months. At the start of the year, only 27 percent took that view.
Fewer than one in five CEOs taking part in the roundtable survey indicated in July that they planned to increase capital spending. That proportion remained unchanged from January. And expectations for hiring have actually grown less positive, with 25 percent of the CEOs saying in January they planned to take on workers and only 21 percent saying in July that their employment levels will probably go up.
Jim Walsh, head of the Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce, encapsulates the prevailing sentiment among Vermont business leaders when he says, “Things aren’t as bad as they could be but they’re not as good as we’d like them to be.”
Plasan North America, based in Bennington, has won a second Pentagon contract to build “mine-resistant, ambush-protected, all-terrain vehicles” (M-ATVs). The new order for 100 of the vehicles comes on top of a contract awarded in July for 2244 M-ATVs. The latest award will “solidify” the 100 jobs created by the first contract and produce another 50 jobs at the plant, Senator Patrick Leahy said last month in announcing the latest war-related deal clinched by Plasan.
A 9,000-square-foot Alzheimer’s treatment facility is being built at the Village at Fillmore Pond treatment center located off West Road in Bennington.
Southern Vermont College opened a new dorm and dining facility early this year, and more construction could take place on its campus in the coming years. The college plans to increase enrollment to as many as 1000 students – double its present total – by 2013.
Bennington College is also growing. It plans to construct a single-story, $2.5 million Center for Advancement of Public Action next year.
Work is proceeding ahead of schedule on the second phase of the Bennington Bypass, says Town Development Director Scott Murphy. This 3-mile-long northern leg of the roadway could open by 2011, Murphy indicates. The first phase was completed in 2004, and the final segment is still in the conceptual stage.
Little development is occurring in Brattleboro, says Jerry Goldberg, head of the local Chamber of Commerce. Planning is proceeding, however, for expansion of the town’s food co-op, which, with $16 million in annual sales, ranks as one of Brattleboro’s leading businesses. The envisioned project involves construction of a 4-story building that will include residential rental units on the top two floors. They will be developed in collaboration with the Windham Housing Trust.
In central Vermont, government funding is helping three manufacturers expand their operations.
SB Electronics in Barre recently won a $9 million federal matching grant that will enable the company to build more capacitors for hybrid vehicles. The company expects to add 100 jobs over the next three years as a result of the deal. It also plans to build a 50,000-square-foot plant in the Wilson Industrial Park, says Sam Matthews, director of the Central Vermont Economic Development Corp.
Northern Power Systems, a designer and manufacturer of wind turbines in Barre Town, has received initial approval from the Vermont Economic Progress Council for job-creation incentives totaling $826,000. The council has also given a tentative go-ahead for nearly $300,000 in incentives to Waterbury-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters as part of a successful state effort to keep the company’s headquarters in Vermont.
The coffee maker announced last month that it will relocate its corporate headquarters from Waterbury to a site somewhere in southern Chittenden County. A substantial share of the company’s operations will remain in Waterbury even as Green Mountain moves forward with a plan to expand its facility in Essex.
The overall economic situation in central Vermont isn’t particularly positive, Matthews notes. Retailers in the area have felt the effects of state government layoffs in recent months, she says, describing local consumers as “skittish.” It’s been “tough slogging for a lot of businesses,” Matthews observes, adding that she doesn’t anticipate a robust recovery anytime soon “because Vermont is still facing some serious budget problems.”
Monahan Filaments, a bristle manufacturer, recently laid off 54 workers at its Case Street plant in Middlebury, leaving about 40 on the job. The company says economic conditions are forcing it to retrench.
Two new food and beverage outlets have opened in the Marble Works in Middlebury. The Farmers Diner and the Stone Leaf Tea House have begun drawing locals and tourists alike to a section of town that is seeing increased commercial activity.
On Main Street, the Marquis Theater is completing an extensive renovation that includes addition of a third screen. And in Bristol, a home decorating store called Feathering the Nest has opened on Main St., reports Addison County Chamber of Commerce President Andy Mayer.
Even when the nation and state are prospering, unemployment plagues the Northeast Kingdom. And in the current recessionary cycle, jobs are especially hard to come by in Caledonia, Essex and Orleans counties.
The region suffered a devastating blow earlier in the summer when Ethan Allen announced it was laying off 260 workers at its Beecher Falls furniture plant, leaving 90 on the job at a sawmill operation. Deepening the Kingdom’s gloom, a fire destroyed most of a city block in St Johnsbury in July. Nine apartments and a grocery store were lost, but a branch of the Passumpsic Savings Bank is expected to reopen at the site soon, says St. Johnsbury Economic Development Director Joel Schwartz.
But there are also a few bright spots in the Kingdom economy, says Steve Patterson, director of the Northeastern Vermont Development Association.
He points to the possible construction of two wood pellet plants in the coming months. And Patterson reports that Vermont Aerospace in Lyndonville has been winning a steady stream of federal contracts. The Food Venture Center in Hardwick continues to thrive as well, with the Vermont Mead Co. planning to build a plant there in the next year. Dead River Oil, formerly known as Northern Petroleum, is building a facility in St Jay’s industrial park, Schwartz adds.
But by far the biggest source of encouragement in the Kingdom can be found at Jay Peak, where an ambitious expansion is employing scores of local construction workers.
Rutland County’s 10.1 percent seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was the highest in the state in June, surpassing the perennially ailing Newport labor market’s 8.6 percent rate. The double-digit joblessness figure in Vermont’s second-largest county reflects repeated layoffs on the part of some Rutland manufacturers and service providers, along with the spinoff effects on the county’s retailers.
But there are a few early signs that the downward trend may be reversing. The 10.1 percent figure actually represents a slight decline from the unemployment rate in May. And the Rutland building formerly occupied by the Metro Group bulk mailing company, which closed last year at a cost of more than 200 jobs, will soon be occupied by a beer and wine distributor that’s moving its operations from Rutland City’s southwest neighborhood, reports Tom McCauley, director of the Rutland Redevelopment Authority. He notes that an International House of Pancakes is under construction on Route 7 and that a tavern has opened adjacent to the Paramount Theater downtown.
Manufacturing has remained strong in the St Albans area, says Tim Smith, director of the Franklin County Industrial Development Corp. Vermont Transformer, a division of Quebec-based Bemag Transformers, moved into a 23,000-square-foot facility in the St Albans Town industrial park in May. The company, which received $718,000 in state financing for its $1.8 million project, says it expects to employ 44 workers within three years.
Maple Mountain Woodworkers hopes to open a facility in Richford soon. The maker of wood shavings for animal bedding plans to hire about 15 employees, Smith says.
“We haven’t lost any companies, and layoffs have been minimal,” Smith reports. “Franklin County has a very solid base of manufacturers.”
Retail in Franklin County “continues to struggle,” says Jim Walsh, head of the area’s Chamber. But he does point to one recent success: One Federal, an upscale restaurant that opened in downtown St Albans in a renovated building.
Walsh notes that the local economy feels a drag from the sinking fortunes of Franklin County dairy farmers.
“Our dairy guys are screaming,” he says. “They can hold on for only so long, and they make up the largest dairy community in the state.”
In White River Junction, developer Bill Bittinger is finishing work on a third building on Railroad Row. The 18,000-square-foot space will accommodate offices as well as ground-floor retail. Also in White River, a Toyota dealership is adding more than 17,000 square feet as an expression of confidence that auto sales will soon revive.
A permit has been issued for construction of a 12,000-square-foot building in the Billings Farm Office Park in Wilder, says Town of Hartford Assistant Zoning Administrator Matt Osborne.
