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Web posted
Monday, September 1, 2003
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County work force operates near capacity
BEAUFORT: Economic development partnership working on expanding job diversity.
By Lolita Huckaby
Carolina Morning News
It's Labor Day and across the country millions are celebrating their employment, while a growing number of the unemployed ponder their future.
But while the picture remains gloomy in other parts of the country - a national economist for Wells Fargo was quoted as saying "the Achilles' heel of our economy is the lack of jobs" - here in Beaufort County, the unemployment statistics show Beaufort County with a 3.2 percent monthly average in July.
With a total work force of 58,800 people, Beaufort County's unemployment rate is the lowest in all of South Carolina's 46 counties, where the average rose to 7 percent, the highest since March 1994. Nationally, the average was 6.2 percent for July.
Bill Miles, president and CEO of the Hilton Head Island/Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, sees the low number as a plus.
"We look at it as a positive sign of a vibrant economy," he said.
With the unemployment level what it is, local businesses have to provide higher wages to attract workers, he added.
"It is something of a challenge," admits Rick Thrasher, president and CEO of the Greater Beaufort-Hilton Head Economic Development Partnership, Inc. the county's joint public-private economic partnership created two years ago to bring new businesses to the area and support the businesses already here.
That low unemployment figure can be a consideration when new companies come to call, Thrasher said.
"But it's offset by the fact that we're a destination location and people want to live here," he said. "The quality of life we offer, while certainly not the only factor, is such that we've been able to recruit the people we need to fill the jobs."
Thrasher warns that numbers can be misleading since a percentage of Beaufort County's work force comes from outside of the county, while at the same time a percentage leaves the county daily to work elsewhere.
John Williams, spokesman for the Beaufort County School District, agrees numbers can be misleading.
As the largest non-military employer in the county, the school district employs 2,800, 1,450 of whom are certificated educators. The others are non-certificated, which includes teacher's aides, secretaries and office workers.
"While our teachers' salaries are some of the highest in the state, our pay scale for non-certificated personnel is barely competitive with the local job market," Williams said.
While government leaders and those in the economic development area know they have the low unemployment numbers to contend with, the county also has one of the lowest average weekly wages, $447 compared to a state average of $526, according to the S.C. Employment Security Commission's records.
At the same time, Beaufort County's median per household income, according to the U.S. Census, is one of the highest in the state, growing 5.4 percent in 2003 to $62,000 from $58,800 in 2002.
"That's the reason diversity of the employment opportunities is crucial to this area," Thrasher said.
At the same time the partnership has been working to attract new types of industry to the area, the representatives have been working with the Technical College of the Lowcountry and the University of South Carolina Beaufort to expand educational and training opportunities.
"Our goal is to ensure a steady stream of well-prepared professionals for the regional work force by identifying four-year degree programs that are in response to specific community needs including hospitality, early childhood education, management, nursing and human services," said Lila Meeks, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement at USC Beaufort.
Offering more educational experiences is one thing, finding a job once that degree is achieved is something else, as job-seekers around the country are discovering.
Employees at the local S.C. Employment Security Commission offices say they don't see a lot of applicants with advanced degrees coming through their doors since their job postings are largely hourly wage positions.
But Lance Covington, a 36-year-old computer programmer with a bachelor of science degree who lost his job this summer when the small company he worked for "down-sized," was at the Boundary Street this past week checking on unemployment benefits.
"I really love this area and hope I can find something so I can stay here. But it's not easy. I may have to take a job in a retail store or maybe restaurant work, which would be a real cut in pay but you have to do what you have to do. Jobs are tight," he said.
Reporter Lolita Huckaby can be reached at 524-5448 or bftbay@charter.net
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