NUMBERS crunchers from Towson (don't call us "State") University came to town a week ago to paint a broad-brush picture of Carroll County's economy, and of its future. A macroeconomic tour d'horizon, academics would call it.
As is usual with economists' expositions, the presentation by Michael Funk of the university's Regional Economic Studies Institute raised more questions than it answered. Not to disparage the work of RESI, which has produced valuable analyses and forecasts of Maryland and local economies. (Indeed, with 90 employees, Towson boasts one of the largest college-based economics institutes.)
But the concerns of the audience at this Carroll County Chamber of Commerce breakfast appeared more focused on its own business concerns.
Carroll's job growth lagged in the first part of this decade, and is now moving ahead of the Maryland average: about 7 percent annual job growth, Mr. Funk ventured. Growth continues to be strong in government, health care, construction, restaurants and general retail.
In other words, mostly services, not goods production. But much of the Carroll job growth is in consumer services, where wages are relatively low.
However, the majority of employed people living in Carroll work outside the county. That makes the county more dependent on personal rather than business taxes and revenues. Carroll residents apparently earn more money this way; the county's average household income is $50,000, about 25 percent higher than the Maryland average.
Some people, however, feel the county should be doing more to attract industry and business to expand the tax base.
When they asked Mr. Funk the hard question of how this could be done, he mentioned the well-known factors: quality work force, transportation, taxes, public facilities, living costs. And, oh yes, financial sweeteners from government to close the deal.
How to gain good jobs?
That did nothing to spark the local economic development imagination. But the RESI statistics did restate a long-standing question for Carroll County: Should it do more to secure good-wage industry, or should it fully exploit its status as bedroom and farming community? But what about the individual job market?
