A struggling economy is nothing new.

Wednesday, September 05, 2001

A struggling economy is nothing new.

Often, America’s workforce takes a nosedive, but climbs back out of the pits once business picks up again. Is that what we are in for in the months to come? As news about companies closing doors and downsizing and corporate giants merging continues to come in, the answer to this question seems bleak.

Taking the brunt of the blow is the manufacturing industry. As more and more factories cease operations or scale back dramatically, more and more people are left without jobs. Many of these were high-paying jobs.

Those who held these jobs, more times than not, were individuals lacking the technical skills to reenter the workforce. With technology playing such a key role in the corporate world today, higher education of some sort is more or less demanded of people attempting to secure employment. Unfortunately, many of the people losing jobs have been working as laborers all of their lives.

Lawrence County has seen its share of lost jobs in recent years. Is there hope on the horizon? We don’t know yet.

What we do know is county and economic leaders must work diligently to attract new business to the area – companies that will make a commitment to stay and not pack it up and take off in a few years.

The efforts to develop The Point and the possibility of Duke Energy and Calpine building factories in the county is encouraging news. The continued talk of developing the former Honeywell site is also welcome.

However, it is integral to make sure negotiations go beyond the table. At this time, more employment in Lawrence County is essential, not optional.