Meager job growth seen for area

Published 11:14 pm Tuesday, January 15, 2008

No flood of new high-paying jobs is expected locally this year, but neither is the lingering downturn in the flooring industry expected to bring mass layoffs, area observers say.

“I’ll give you a quote from an economist who was a guest on my show, ‘If you liked 2007, you’ll love 2008,’” said Dave Foster, host of the Floor Daily radio program. “What he means is things are likely to be about the same.”

For 2008, more of the same means fewer overall jobs in the carpet industry, though with an unemployment rate slightly higher than the state average, but one that remains under 5 percent.

Both Foster and Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce president George Woodward say the flooring industry is being affected by the national slump in the housing market and an overall economic downturn nationally, fueled by spiraling energy costs.

When the national economy takes a downturn, “our industries are usually among the first to feel it and are usually among the first to come out of it,” Woodward said.

Foster and Woodward agreed such slumps are not new and the economy is currently 18 months into a cycle that Woodward said can stretch out to two-and-a-half years, judging by past history.

The number of jobs in Whitfield and Murray counties was 78,400 at the beginning of 2007, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. Employment reached a high of 80,700 jobs by May and stood at 79,900 in November, the most recent month for which figures are available.

Yet, the total number of local unemployment claims is higher in the Dalton metro area — more than 2,000 — than any other in the state, except Atlanta, which has more than 18,000.

The Georgia State University Economic Forecasting Center predicts slight overall job growth locally of 0.5 percent in 2008, based on continued weakness in the carpet industry. Northwest Georgia’s other metro area, Rome, is predicted to post job growth of 1.7 percent, led by increases in the education and health fields.

The Dalton metro area, which includes Whitfield and Murray counties, lost jobs in manufacturing and utilities sectors in 2007, while adding them in retail and government, according to the Economic Forecasting Center. Losses in the carpet industry were partially offset by the addition of 110 jobs at Shiroki, a company which manufactures auto door frames and components.

Despite the mediocre immediate prospects for the flooring industry, there are new jobs coming to the local community in 2008, observers said.

“We do see some positive signs,” Woodward said.

Local development officials are working with a company interested in opening a customer call center in Dalton, which could bring in as many as 200 jobs, Woodward said. The company is attracted to the area’s wealth of bilingual workers, he said.

In addition to that company, there are others taking a look at the community to open facilities and some existing industries are looking at expansions, said Melanie Suggs, director of the Dalton-Whitfield Economic Development Authority.

“We have interest from a number of companies for back office type companies,” Suggs said. “Back office meaning call centers, payroll and insurance.”

In addition, there are a number of retail developments being built that are expected to open this year. Among them is the 55,000-square-foot expansion of Dalton Shopping Center, which is expected to see the opening this year of a T.J. Maxx department store and a Panera Bread restaurant and bakery. The center is located near the intersection of Walnut Avenue and Dug Gap Road.

Construction is set to begin soon on a second Walgreens drugstore across the street from Walnut Square Mall. Developer Buz Copeland said the store is expected to open in September.

Suggs said she expects to see more retail development, “even on a larger scale,” in 2008.

State officials predict a long-term shift in employment in Northwest Georgia, relying less on carpet and adding jobs in other areas.

The state Department of Labor predicts a loss of about 1,000 textile jobs in Northwest Georgia in its long range forecast, which looks forward to 2014. But the same forecast projects overall job growth for the region, led by gains in education, wholesale industry and food service sectors.