Taking Stock of the Current Situation

The data is grim at every level -- local, state, and national.  Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House Majority Whip, says that unemployment is hitting close to 24% in Sumter County, SC.  Michigan has over 11.6% unemployment. 

According to Jeff Finkle, the head of the International Economic Development Council, the construction industry has lost 891,000 jobs across the country, manufacturing has lost 700,000, retail 522,000 and finance 260,000.  Over one million properties went into foreclosure in 2008, a staggering 204% increase in just two years.

The economic crisis has all of the hallmarks of a natural disaster. After Hurricane Ike, for example, people lost homes and jobs, suffered from being separated from their kids, and were uncertain about their possessions and future. 

Like a disaster, the economic crisis is creating post-traumatic stress.  The nation’s pundits and TV personalities are having a field day serving as the public’s voice of outrage and discontent.  Decision-makers may be panicking and rushing to judgment.  They are certainly displaying other symptoms – uncertainty, outrage, finger-pointing, and blame-shifting -- that often accompany disaster responses. 

An atmosphere of fear and risk-aversion has spread throughout much of the country, affecting consumer behavior, capital spending decisions, and investment patterns.  Although no bomb has exploded, people are certainly bunkering down.

Temporarily economically displaced people not only have lost their jobs and/or their homes, they are having trouble making ends meet, paying their bills, and taking care of their kids. 

Schools are reporting declines in enrollment. Delinquencies at healthcare clinics are up.  U.S. credit card defaults rose to their highest level in 20 years in February. 

Travel has all of a sudden become taboo. Places like Las Vegas are facing a double whammy.  Not only has its housing market cratered, but the tourism industry – the lifeblood of Las Vegas -- has declined precipitously.  Air travel to the city was down 14% in the last quarter of 2008.  The Las Vegas Convention Bureau estimated that the city lost 30,000 hotel nights in January alone.

This economic crisis has displaced people at every level of economic strata.  It has affected entire communities from Manassas, Virginia, to Delray Beach, Florida, Deschutes County, Oregon, to Elkhart, Indiana.  People are trading down in terms of their shopping choices, their preferences, and their expectations.

So, what are corporate citizens doing? Learn more tomorrow. (Read Part Two) 

BCLC will launch its economic recovery portal and build on these ideas with business, government and nonprofit partners during the 2009 National Conference on Corporate Community Investment in Chicago, IL May 3-5. For more information visit: www.uschamber.com/bclc/events/cciconference_chicago.htm