By Cass Rains Staff Writer
Despite the current recession being felt across the nation Oklahoma is faring far better than most in the state, according to the most recent employment statistics available.
Figures from Oklahoma Employment Security Com-mission show Garfield County had an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, less than the statewide rate of 4.7 percent and national unemployment rate of 6.8 percent.
“We’ve not had major announced layoffs due to the national downturn. Our unemployment rate is certainly lower than the state average,” said President and CEO of Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce Jon Blankenship. “That supports what we are hearing. It’s still a tight labor market here locally.”
In the past two years, Blankenship said Enid businesses have created about 1,200 jobs.
“Historically, Enid’s job growth has come from businesses already here,” he said.
While the state has not yet felt the full effect of the recession, the downturn in the economy could soon be felt by the Sooner state.
“Normally, Oklahoma lags behind the nation in the way figures move across the country,” said Northern Oklahoma College Vice President Dr. Edwin Vineyard.
He said since the last oil boom and bust, the state’s economy has diversified, making the effects of an economic downturn lag into the state.
“Our economy doesn’t tend to have huge highs and lows like it used to,” Vineyard said.
But, lagging oil and energy prices soon could affect Oklahoma’s economy.
“Energy prices were so high. That really injected a lot of activity into our economy,” Vineyard said. “That really carried through for a while. We’ll start to see the activity taper off.
“I think while the rest of the country has already seen the drop in employment and tax revenues, Oklahoma will be seeing that in the near future.”
Vineyard said unlike New York, which was hit with the financial collapse, and California, with a failing real estate market, Oklahoma isn’t as likely to be hit as hard as states with so much of its economy vested in a single area.
He said the effects of a recession would soon be felt by the state.
“Can we stave it off? Given our industry and location there’s really not that much of a way we can insulate ourselves from that,” Vineyard said.
Blankenship agrees, noting the area economy has been diversifying and growing its labor market.
“Realistically we are not totally insulated from the national economy,” he said. “I think we will be impacted far less than many other regions in the country.”
However, Blankenship said existing Enid companies could add more jobs to the area but are hindered by a tight labor market.
“A lot of the job growth has come from existing businesses,” he said. “Advance Food and Continental Resources have experienced substantial growth. There are businesses that could add jobs now and the tight labor market is hindering that.”
Blankenship said Enid’s James W. Strate Center for Business Develop-ment also has helped to grow Enid’s economy and create new jobs.
“It’s a fantastic asset for Enid and is one that will help generate new jobs for Enid,” he said, noting the center has four businesses it’s worked with.
“All of those businesses are responsible for some new jobs and have the potential to add more.”
To lessen the effects of the national economy locally, Blankenship said certain areas, such as continued training for the workforce and addressing the housing market and quality-of-life issues, need to be addressed.
“I think we’ve got to look at availability of affordable quality housing and we’ve got to continue to focus on training and retraining our current workforce,” he said. “We’ve got to look for creative ways to recruit not only business but people.”
Attracting new businesses, and more importantly new workers, are five key areas needing to be addressed, Blankenship said.
The five areas are: the public school system, Enid’s downtown area, the city’s retail mix, recreational opportunities and more focus on Enid Woodring Regional Airport.
“Collectively as a community we need to continue to look for ways to improve quality of life, to make Enid a more attractive place to live and work and raise a family.”
