Here's my latest for the Carrboro Citizen:
Back in January, I surveyed a handful of local business owners to
find out what they thought 2010 had in store for their enterprises. (You
can read their original prognostications here: bit.ly/92Zts8). Now that
we’ve hit the mid-point of 2010, I wondered how things were going.
Dianne Reid, president of the Chatham County Economic
Development Corporation, says things looked good in the first
half of the year.
“The EDC is seeing more interest in business expansion, more new
entrepreneurs exploring start-up business ideas and more interest from
outside companies looking to locate in Chatham County. We project
continued interest, particularly as we launch additional marketing
efforts on behalf of the county.”
But she remains guarded.
“The economy is in a very precarious state and a major problem in one
of a variety of fronts – a major drop in the stock market, an increased
number of people walking away from underwater mortgages – could send us
into a tailspin.”
Orange County folks are keeping an eye on budget cuts at UNC. Brad
Broadwell, director of the Orange County Economic Development
Commission, said there’s good news and bad news in that
department. “UNC-Chapel Hill might lose up to 200 employees. But it
looks as though UNC Health Care would more than take up the slack, as it
is reported to be looking at hiring up to 350 employees.”
Continue reading here.