Susquehanna County Blog

It is obvious there are serious economic problems in the US and around the world today.  Turn on the TV, radio, internet or read the paper and you will most likely wonder if we are heading into another depression.  This post is specifically about inquiring as to how the recession is affecting the quality of life for you personally as a resident Susquehanna County.  Specifically, I am not talking about your 401K, or other long term investments, but rather your everyday life.

In other parts of our nation we have seen real estate prices fall 20 - 40%  in some cases and large layoffs.  Retailers are struggling to stay in business, while some others, such as Circuit City, have thrown in the towel.  US automobile manufacturers are fighting for their existence. 

It has been said that a significant number of small dealerships will wind up closing.  Locally, Tom Kerr’s Chevrolet dealership in Montrose recently closed after 26 years (which is a sad event to be sure).   

Aside from that, are we (in Susquehanna County only) seeing the same effects as are occurring in other parts of the country? 

To this writer, things seem to be a little slower than they were a few months ago.  But is that to do with the time of year as much as anything else?  If you ask a server in a local restaurant, you will probably be told that things are slow.  When pressed a little farther, you may hear that things seem to be a little slower than last year at this time, but not much. 

People are still buying groceries, gas and the staples which are sold in Susquehanna County.  To be sure, probably not many tractors or skid loaders are being sold at Pickerings, or new cars at Montrose Motors, Hornbecks, Simmons-Rockwell or any of the other remaining new car or implement dealers here.  But, if you ask them or repair garages if they have slowed down, most of them will tell you they are still doing “all right”. 

The economy in Susquehanna County, as has been discussed here in many previous posts, has not been strong in a long time.  We haven’t had a lot of retail in this county in years.  Until 25 years ago, you could still buy a suit or dress in several stores around the county, but that has all gone away.  We just don’t have a lot of retail here. 

The obvious exception in the past 25 or so years was the Ames store in Montose.  Not a fashion mecca, but always had something you needed, it was well supported and reportedly made money until the day it closed due to the parent company’s failure. 

Since that time, many county residents have lamented Ames closing.  Personally, this writer never liked the selection in the store, but it did fill a purpose - and it did provide significant employment (by Susquehanna County Standards).  Maybe the new Tractor Supply, when it finally opens will fill some of that retail void.

Over the past two recessions - the early 80’s and early 90’s, most businesses here survived.  In the early 90’s with the end of the Cold War, defense based industries, such as those in Binghamton, suffered terribly, causing about a 20% drop in real estate values in the Northern half of Susquehanna County, along with significant job losses. 

The difference this time, at least in the forseeable future, is that we may not see that type of impact.  Many of the  jobs that were lost in the early 90’s were good paying, skilled labor positions - which have never been replaced.  To be sure, a number of service industry and entry level positions exist where they didn’t 20 years ago, but meaningful employment has not really come back for the Susquehanna County resident who works in the Binghamton area.

For the most part, the same is true for our Southern Susquehanna County Residents working in the Scranton area, although things seem to be a little better there.

In any event, over the next six months or a year, unless something cataclysmic occurs in the world (and don’t rule that out completely), life will continue here, generally as we have seen it in the past - at least through the past two recessions.   Our moribund way of life will most likely continue significantly unchanged.  In this uncertain world around us - is that entirely bad?

To be sure, this writer and most who read this will agree that it is a real shame that Tom Kerr closed his business and his employees will suffer.  But let’s remember that history repeats itself.  Do you remember when there was Smith, Cleveland and Smith, a Ford dealer, Bevans, a GM dealer and Wescott (later KL & Sptiler), an Oldsmobile dealer - all in the Susquehanna area.  They were victims of the 1980’s recession. 

Have we seen the worst of it?  Who knows?  All this writer knows is that the residents of Susquehanna County are survivors.  No matter what is thrown at us, we will pick ourselves up and carry on.  We always have and we always will that’s one thing you can take to the bank.

Back to the original question.  Has the recession affected you personally?  Let’s talk about it here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 7:32 am and is filed under 2009, Susquehanna County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.