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Measuring up Missouri's economic future

Jessie King/STAFF

From left, Caroline Todd, Columbia Farmers Market manager and John Garrett, Commerce Bank branch manager, appeared on a discussion panel about the local economy for the Missouri Urban Journalism Workshop on July 13.

By Savannah Kannberg
Solon High School

COLUMBIA — On July 13, two floors below the Missourian newsroom, five community leaders faced hard questions on the economy from 16 student reporters.

The message: Columbia may be insulated to some extent from the recession gripping the nation but isn't taking any chances.

Columbia has a different economy from that of most other cities its size because of its relationship with MU and area hospitals, City Manager Bill Watkins said.

Commerce Bank branch manager John Garrett said though nationwide unemployment is nearing 10 percent, "in Columbia, we’re 4.7 percent,” adding that "we’re not recession-proof, but certainly we’re in a much better state than others.”

Watkins said that officials can't predict what will happen.

“...No one really knows what the economy is going to look like,” Watkins said. “The strategy this year is to take as many of the cuts and belt-tightenings as we can to get us through the following year, after that when we think things will slowly come back to normal.”

Watkins said there will be programs cut across the board. Although the Police Department budget is slated to stay the same, various social services will have cutbacks, he said. Residents won't have to expect a tax increase but will notice some other changes.

“Instead of mowing the parks every other week, it’ll be every three weeks,” he said.

As minor services get cut and projects are delayed or put on the back burner, Columbia Public Schools may take a bit of a hit as well because property tax assessments, used to set the district's budget, didn't rise as much as projected.

Meanwhile, fewer homes are selling in Columbia: 816 in the past six months compared with 1,313 in the same period in 2006, said Carol Van Gorp, CEO of the Columbia Board of Realtors.

“It (the recession) has a ripple effect throughout the economy," she said. "When sales are down, we all feel the effects.”

Van Gorp was optimistic, however, about more first-time home buyers getting into the market and providing a boost to the economy. She cited new federal programs for buyers as well as Columbia's existing single-family housing stock. And the lack of real estate speculation combined with conservative local lending practices have helped insulate Columbia from the national foreclosure epidemic, Van Gorp said.

Still, Columbia is not immune to the effects of a bad economy. The panel discussion veered toward the increasing demand for charitable services. Churches and other providers are bracing for an onslaught by those needing a helping hand.

"The Central Missouri Community Action warned us in our meeting over two months ago that all the faith communities should expect a lot of need," said the Rev. John Prenger, president of the Columbia Interfaith Council. “You’re going to have people in really desperate situations asking for help of some kind. I find I don’t know what to do except to tell our congregations and our people that are gathered to do what you can.”

While some Columbians volunteer their time, others do what is “right” by spending money at the Columbia Farmers' Market, which donated more than 7,000 pounds of food last year to the Central Missouri Food Bank, Farmers' Market Manager Caroline Todd said.

“In 2007, the market donated over 12,000 pounds to the food bank,” Todd said. “The reason for the decline is because we have more customers coming to our market and buying. That’s all we had left over."

Garrett said banks are noticing that people are thinking more carefully about saving, mostly because credit for individuals has tightened up and they don't have much of a choice. He said banks are also feeling the effect of media reports about stock market losses and investment problems.

“Of course, banks are also very aware their image has been hurt in the public eye as well," he said.