Is the recession over?
February 25, 2010 General Discussion
I wasn’t sure that our Lindsay Exhibit Group blog was a place to post a note about the recession, but it seems that every conversation I have with customers these days opens with “So how is your business doing?” I think it is just the nervous apprehension that we all have regarding our own well-being. There is safety in numbers, and good or bad, it is a bit therapeutic for us all to open up about what is happening. So here is a brief commentary from my own perspective.
We here at Lindsay Exhibit Group have had an OK year. No layoffs, no pay-cuts, no loss of limbs; but painful, nonetheless. I have seen this recession heighten the stress level with my customers, friends and neighbors, and my own employees. You can’t live in Michigan without this having an impact on you. I’ve had customers that have been with me for almost 20 years lose their jobs. I’ve seen a personal acquaintance go through bankruptcy proceedings and foreclosure. I’ve watched in anger as the names Detroit and Michigan have been cursed in the national news media. I’ve pored over everything I could read (from both left and right wing media circles!) to try and make sense of where we are and where we are going; a futile attempt, but it kept me entertained. And at the end of the day, seems to me, its all about jobs.
We’ve lost so many of the high-paying manufacturing jobs here in our home state, and it looks like it will be many years before they are all replaced, if ever. But I read a story recently about a small manufacturing town in Ohio that was struggling through the same illness as Michigan. A 52-year old woman that had spent 27 years in a high paying manufacturing job explained that “I would be happy with a …. job, 40 hours a week, come home, spend time with my husband. And know that the next day, I can go into my job.” Regardless of the pay, there is a simple safety and security that comes with knowing that you have a purpose, and can plan a lifestyle around whatever the job and pay may be. Without a job, everything is in limbo. Yes, good pay is better; but some pay is better than no pay.
What do I think? I think, and am hopeful, that some of the checks our President is writing go towards education and job re-training efforts. I hope that there is a continued focus on small business, as that has been the traditional engine for job growth. I hope that our once robust state of Michigan has the capability to bounce, and bounce high. I hope that our recently unemployed auto workers do not wait for a life-line from the UAW, or sit around waiting for things to go back to what they were in 1995. I hope that we once again establish our dominance as producing the best cars and trucks on the face of the planet. I hope that the rest of the country recognizes Detroit and our state for all the good we have and can do, rather than recent events involving bankruptcies and a crooked Mayor. But I’ve been around long enough to know that “hope” only goes so far, and has to result in “action” for any real change to occur.
As a small business owner, I pledge to continue my commitment to managing my own personal risks as well as putting as many to work as I can. If I am fortunate enough to purchase a new vehicle anytime soon, it will be American made. I will support Michigan business whenever possible. I will think positive. I will work as hard as ever to bring value to everything I do for my customers to help them be successful in their business. I don’t have any openings right now, but I’d like to hire a Vet. I’d like to do some pro-bono work for a worthy and needy charity. I don’t know how to verbalize it, but I’d like to help.
Is the recession over? Maybe. The positive news is greatly outweighing the negative in the media (for everyone except Tiger). But by all expert accounts, we will be another year or two in the restoration process before middle America feels much better.
What do you think….?
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