WVU forecast shows Morgantown will see growth in 2010

    MORGANTOWN – Job growth in the Morgantown metropolitan area will rebound this year after unusually slow gains in 2009, according to a new forecast released today at the Morgantown Economic Outlook conference.

    The annual conference was sponsored by the West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research in the College of Business and Economics.

    “The Morgantown area economy came through the global downturn during 2008-09 in good shape,” said George W. Hammond, associate director of the BBER. “Local job growth is likely to continue this year and beat both the state and national rates again in 2010.”

    The metropolitan area includes Monongalia and Preston counties. Morgantown added jobs at a 0.7 percent rate in 2009, which far outpaced the massive job losses posted by both the state (-2.6 percent) and the nation (-4.3 percent).

    “Overall, Morgantown has remained remarkably robust in the face of a severe global and national downturn, but the area did not escape unscathed,” Hammond said. “Indeed, Morgantown’s job growth in 2009 was far below growth in 2008, of 2.2 percent.”

    In addition, he said, the local unemployment rate surged from 2.9 percent in 2008 to 5.1 percent in 2009. However, that remains well below the state rate of 7.9 percent and the national rate of 9.3 percent.

    The outlook calls for the Morgantown Metropolitan Statistical Area to generate stronger job growth in 2010, as the national economy gradually rebounds. Local job growth is forecast to average 1.7 percent per year during the 2009-14 period, which is far above expected state growth (0.7 percent per year) and just above expected national growth (1.5 percent per year).

    Job growth in Morgantown is forecast to be strongest in service-providing sectors, such as health care; government; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and trade, transportation and utilities, he said.

    Continued job growth means that the Morgantown unemployment rate will likely gradually fall during the forecast period. Job gains also contribute to continued inflation-adjusted income growth, with the Morgantown MSA expected to post faster growth than the state. The Morgantown MSA is also expected to continue to add residents during the next five years, at rates far above the state average, Hammondsaid.

    Full details are available in the Morgantown MSA forecast publication, which is available online at www.bber.wvu.edu .

Conference to examine Morgantown area's economy

    MORGANTOWN -- The Morgantown Economic Outlook Conference, Wednesday, March 17, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Waterfront Place Hotel, will examine the area’s economic performance and outlook and the future of the global economic crisis.

    Morgantown has continued to grow during the past year, in contrast to huge job losses for the state and nation, but the pace of local job growth has dropped significantly. Presentations at the conference will consider the economic outlook for 2010 and beyond and contrast local prospects with forecasts for the state and nation.

    The conference, presented by the WVU College of Business and Economics, will closely examine the national economic slowdown and what it means for job, population and income levels in the Morgantown metropolitan area, which includes Monongalia and Preston counties.

    Dr. James P. Clements, WVU president, will provide the opening remarks. The conference will feature economists Dr. George Hammond of the University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research and Dr. Nigel Gault of IHS Global Insight, an international economic forecasting firm. Economic forecasts and analysis of the Morgantown Metropolitan Statistical Area for the next five years will be distributed at the event.

    Other speakers at the conference include Charles W. Huguenard (vice president and general manager, Longview Power), Corky DeMarco (executive director, West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association) and Parry Petroplus (president, Petroplus and Associates, Inc.). Registration costs $40 per person ($55 after March 12). Student registration is $20 with ID. To register visit www.be.wvu.edu or call 304-293-7831.

Regional economic development experts head to Morgantown Oct. 21-22

MORGANTOWN -- Top economic development policy experts from throughout the nation will converge on Morgantown Oct. 21 and 22 to share information about the best ways to improve regional economies – information that could help guide the government’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) decisions for years to come.

The experts will be attending the first Economic Development Administration Economic Development Research Symposium at Morgantown’s Clarion Hotel on Oct. 21 and 22.

West Virginia University’s Regional Research Institute (RRI) helped plan the event and will co-host with EDA. Randall Jackson is director of the WVU RRI.

“Some of the key movers and shakers in the world of regional economic development will be coming to Morgantown for this symposium,” Jackson said. “EDA is a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce and we are pleased that our region will be hosting, as important policy options are discussed that could impact the whole nation.”

He said that the Morgantown region, which has displayed economic resiliency during the difficulties of 2008-2009, will be on display for symposium participants and presenters who hail from such points of origin as Arizona, California and Florida.

“The symposium will give experts from prestigious institutions the opportunity to share thoughts and theories that will help guide policy makers concerned with the challenge of improving economic development,” Jackson said. “It doesn’t hurt the discussions to have them occur in a city that has weathered the storm of recession quite well.”

The symposium agenda will include presentations by EDA’s assistant secretary for economic development and representatives of the Purdue University Center for Regional Development, the Indiana Business Research Center, the Arizona State University School of Geographical Sciences, the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation, Florida International University’s Department of Public Administration, George Mason University’s Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science, the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, the National Academies of Science and Savannah River National Laboratory.

Symposium participants will present research and discuss policy implications on a wide range of economic development issues, including: the potential of industry and occupation clusters; methods for measuring regional innovation; the role of the green economy; the geographic distribution of U.S. unemployment; strategies for promoting economic resiliency; and the implications of this research on national economic development policy.

Jackson said the event can have a significant impact on future EDA policy affecting the agency’s activity. Interested persons can learn more about the symposium by contacting Jackson at randall.jackson@mail.wvu.edu or Hillary Sherman-Zelenka of EDA at hsherman@eda.doc.gov.

Founded in 1965, WVU’s RRI creates learning opportunities and provides research support for faculty members and students, while serving as an internationally prominent center for the advancement of regional science.

The Institute sponsors scholarly seminars and workshops and provides seed grants to tenured and tenure track WVUfaculty with interests in the economy, land use, environment, energy, industry and socio-economic welfare and human environmental interactions.

More than $1 million in externally funded research is currently under way at the Institute, with support from the EDA, the USDA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy through the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Since 1999, the Institute has published the Web Book of Regional Science, which makes it possible for instructors to choose from a menu to design courses that are appropriate for their students. The Web Book is a valuable learning resource used world-wide by teachers and professionals alike.