By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
The Great Recession sunk its teeth into Beaufort County and wouldn’t let go for all of 2009.
Unemployment locked in at around 11 percent and clung there stubbornly through year’s end, making in the No. 5 story on the Washington Daily News’ list of Top 10 local stories for 2009.
Despite federal declarations that the recession was technically over, employment jibed with White House forecasts as it lagged behind other economic indicators locally and across much of the nation.
“We’ve never gone much within two-tenths of 1 percent” from 11 percent this year, said Pat Oswalt, manager of the N.C. Employment Security Commission’s Washington office.
“I’m not aware of anything on the horizon that’s positive or negative,” Oswalt said, speaking of the jobs front.
He added that the downturn was the worst he’d seen since the beginning of his ESC tenure decades ago.
“This is the worst that I’ve seen predominantly because I don’t see any catalyst in the future that’s going to pull it up,” Oswalt remarked.
There were a few bright spots as the holidays approached.
“We’ve got companies growing right now,” said Tom Thompson, Beaufort County’s economic developer.
Among the local companies that are doing better, adding employees or holding their own are Flanders Filters, Carver Machine Works, Prettl Appliance Systems USA and more, Thompson shared.
“There’s no doubt that, overall, we are definitely depressed because of this recession,” he added.
Thompson said he’s seeing interest from outside companies, especially in wood-related industries, and expects some of the bad news about local companies to turn around in the coming months.
“Nobody in the county, of course, is satisfied with where we are,” he said.
The local business climate appeared to be stable or improving a little by the 11th month of the year, Catherine Glover, executive director of the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce, reported in early November.
Chamber membership held fast, and there were “small signs” that things were getting better as some entrepreneurs began opening small businesses, Glover said.
Area charities stepped up their efforts to serve growing numbers of jobless or impoverished people seeking everything from food to furniture.
Near Thanksgiving, Washington’s Zion Shelter and Kitchen reported a significant increase in the numbers of people it served.
At the same time, charity-minded members of the community helped keep the kitchen and food pantries well stocked.
“The community so far has been very generous to us,” said Robert Harris, Zion director. “We have got a lot of supplies in for the holidays.”
State data showed that, in Beaufort County, participation in the food-stamp program grew from 6,497 people in September 2008 to 7,456 participants in September of this year, according to the Budget &Tax Center, a project of the nonprofit N.C. Justice Center, which tracks poverty issues.
In response to the uptick in demand, the Beaufort County Department of Social Services stepped up its outreach push to reach people who might be eligible for the program but don’t apply, said Sonya Toman, DSS director.