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Mayor combats Corvallis economy
Unemployment in Corvallis is now at 6.2 percent, double what it was last year
Rebecca Johnson
Issue date: 2/3/09 Section: News
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Tomlinson said right now the city has a budget surplus, but the council plans on being very conservative with that surplus, in the event of a worsening economy.
Tomlinson said the unemployment rate for Corvallis as of Dec. 2008 was 6.2 percent, double what it was a year ago. Tomlinson has also said in the last two months the city has seen some businesses close.
One of the largest employers, behind OSU, is Hewlett Packard. Tomlinson said the company is continuing to globalize, and that actions are being taken to offset the loss of jobs.
One of those actions is to create jobs using the Business Enterprise Center, which is a business incubator that offers its services to start up companies. It has created 70 jobs in the last two years and hopes to create even more this year.
"When you look at Corvallis we are Oregon State and we are a medical community, we are Hewlett Packard, but once you get through those major employers you get a large number of innovative and creative entrepreneurial companies. Those companies are the backbone of our economic vitality," Tomlinson said.
The housing crisis has caused layoffs in the building department, due to a decrease in permit requests. Development Services only issued 36 new permits in the first 10 months of 2008, as opposed to between 150 to 180 permits over the same period for the past several decades, according to a budget forecast provided on the City of Corvallis' website.
Tomlinson explained that Corvallis is still doing better than many other parts of the country. He said that inventory was up and that the foreclosure rate in Corvallis is not as high when compared to other Oregon counties.
OSU is considered a huge part in the economic development of the community. Not only is it the largest employer for the city, the large research and development done on campus often leads to the creation of companies by faculty and students. Those companies then grow and create jobs for the community.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Acai
Tony
posted 3/29/09 @ 4:21 PM PST
Sounds like Corvalis is doing much better than where I am! I'm in Josephine County and the unemployment rate is now 16%!!! Housing prices are declining 5% per month and foreclosures are on the rise. (Continued…)
Dann Cutter
posted 4/05/09 @ 3:36 PM PST
Unfortunately, as we have also seen in Lincoln County, stimulus and spending tends to be focused on the larger communities and population centers. This does make a bit of sense, though in counties which are already struggling with high economic hardship and unemployment during the 'best' of times, it certainly doesn't make it any easier. (Continued…)
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