“Once the counties start to hire, it’ll be an all-out brawl between my previous classmates and I for interviews,” says Morgan Grail, who just received her bachelor’s in elementary education from North Carolina State University. “It’s funny, because I’ve been getting all this classroom paraphernalia, but there’s not even a glimpse at a job.”

Grail is not alone. Jobs are difficult to come by, even for skilled and experienced college graduates.

Part of the problem is the competition. The number of graduates has reached historic proportions. NC State conferred the largest number of degrees in the state’s history this past school year — 8,022. Of those, more than 5,000 graduated this spring. Combine that number with other area Schools—Shaw, Saint Augustine’s, Meredith, and Peace—and it makes for a literal flood of women and men with new college degrees.

Yet much of that flood is being dammed by the remnants of a stagnant economy. The latest figures for the Raleigh area show an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent, a bit better than the national average of 9 percent.

While this number is down from the May 2010 figure of 8.9, many new grads aren’t feeling the difference. It’s still a long way from May 2007, when unemployment in the Raleigh area was at 3.6 percent.

“This is definitely the worst [recession] since the Great Depression,” says NC State Economics Professor Robert Hammond. “Nothing rivals it.”

The reality could be even worse. It’s hard to tell because they’re not coming into the office anymore, said Larry Parker, acting public information director of the North Carolina Employment Security Commission.

“There’s no swarm of college and high school kids at this time anymore, because everything is online,” Parker said. “It’s difficult to determine what happens with that demographic now.”

Finding Ways to Cope

Those fortunate enough to have a previous job, such as Grail, who works at a retail store, ask for more hours while they seek permanent careers in their fields.

Others have chosen to apply for volunteer programs, such as Teach for America or the Peace Corps. Both organizations have seen a nationwide rise in volunteerism.

However, these programs have now become as or more selective and competitive as the universities these students got into in the first place. Teach for America received more than 45,000 applicants in 2010, but only admitted about 10 percent.

NC State’s Peace Corps office reported 24 graduates serving in their program.

“That’s a noticeable increase from years past, too,” said Emma Garcia, the university’s recruiter.

While some turn to volunteering and other jobs, many are using their newfound reasoning skills to come up with fresh ideas. Many are even finding the silver lining in their predicament.

Or a refreshing, amber-colored lining, such as Roth Brewery.

Founded in 2008 by Ryan Roth, a then-recent graduate of NC State, the beer brewing operation has been getting some attention in the Raleigh area for its “rebellious brewing.”

Yet the idea for the brewery was born in part from Roth’s post-graduate employment frustration.

“It took me a good two or three months to find a job after I got my degree in mechanical engineering,” said Roth, who graduated in 2006. “When I did get one though, I realized that I wasn’t getting to do what I really wanted to do. I wasn’t designing and solving problems like I thought.”

“I had been homebrewing and said, ‘Hey, why not give this a chance,’ so we made a brewery. It’s funny, because now I get to solve problems and be more creative than the engineering job,” Roth said with a chuckle.

The state of the economy isn’t anything to laugh about though, and it will be tough yet for many graduates to come, Hammond said.

“The state of thought now is to draw a line around 2016 or 2017 to when we’ll be back to 2006 numbers, but that can be a bit naïve,” he said. “It’s really just opinions right now. We just don’t have the data at this time.”Similar Posts:

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Some of the main factors for the shortfall are less-than-anticipated on-street revenue of about $1.4 million, deck parking projections of $183,000 and a $1 million increase in debt service charges.

City Manager Russell Allen explained that the city’s parking program is considered an enterprise fund, meaning it is set up like a business.

City councilors will have to come up with a solution to the shortfall as they create a balanced budget before July.

“Hopefully it operates as a business that has revenue that offsets its expenses,” he said.

According to state law, money generated by the program stays within the program, much like the water and sewer fund.

“The economy has had a definite impact from about the fall of 2009 until now,” said Gordon Dash, the city’s parking administrator. “The biggest loss has been in the number of monthly accounts.”

During the past two years, the city lost 489 monthly deck-parking accounts, which at $100 a month per account amounts to about $1.2 million.

“For all of the new accounts that we’ve lost, we’ve seen virtually no new accounts that could be attributed to folks who used to park on the street, now going into the decks,” Dash said.

Last summer, the city implemented an on-street parking program that included the use of metered spaces to encourage turnover for the downtown businesses. Prior to the use of meters, Dash said that people working downtown would park on the street all day.

Dash said the city anticipated that these parkers would make use of the parking decks, even with the $100 per month price tag of a space rental.

“In fact, what our field agents have found is that the license plates that they used to see park downtown are the same plates they now see parking outside the periphery of the metered zones,” Dash said. “Now they’re occupying residential streets.”

The Fayetteville District is the most desired on-street parking zone in the downtown area.

In other words, rather than paying to park on the decks, downtown employees are parking where there are no meters and walking. Dash said that this resulted in parts of downtown where metered parking isn’t utilized at all.

Progress Energy’s recent downsizing and impending merger with Duke Energy could result in another 1,000 spaces lost.

Because the parking decks are under-utilized, they aren’t generating the revenue needed to pay off the $100 million plus interest it cost to build the new decks.

“We built a couple of major facilities that we had planned to have development associated with it,” said Allen. “And subsequent parkers that would take leases and provide revenues for those decks, but with this economy they have not been able to come out of the ground.”

Prior to the city taking the parking program in house, it was managed by a private firm, which kept no data as to which cars were owned by employees and which were owned by visitors. Projections of 52 percent occupancy were based on the proposal made by the parking consultant during the parking overhaul in 2008.

Now with the meters in place, officials were able to determine that the average occupancy rate for off-street parking is 40 percent. While Fayetteville, Moore Square and Hillsborough areas have an 85 percent occupancy rate, the other zones — Capitol, Glenwood South and Warehouse — are practically empty at 15 to 20 percent.

Allen and Dash proposed a series of revenue options to the Budget and Economic Development Committee on April 12.

The first — and highly unpopular – suggestion was to begin charging a flat rate for parking on nights and weekends.

“It’s too soon in the downtown renaissance,” said David Diaz of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. “Other downtowns do charge, but I think they’re further along in their evolution than we are.”

The committee decided against the proposal.

The city council approved a proposal to change the city’s booting ordinance so that parking enforcement officers could boot a car that was parked legally. Previously, officers could not boot a car with excessive tickets unless it was in violation of a parking law. The city estimates about $62,000 in lost revenue due to missed booting opportunities.

To help recover a portion of the $2.5 million the city is owed in overdue parking fines, the council gave its approval for the department to work with the state to implement a tax intercept program and holds through the department of motor vehicles.

The tax intercept program would deduct fines from state tax refunds and anyone with excessive fines would be forced to pay up when registering their car or renewing their license.Similar Posts:

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The Salvation Army of Wake County in particular reports a 30 percent increase in demand for its services.

“People would be surprised of the demographic of people coming in now, “ said Paige Bagwell with the Salvation Army of Wake County. “We are seeing more people that we have ever seen before, that might not have ever had to ask us for help.“

Bagwell is referring to white-collar workers; some who may have had their hours cut at work and can’t make their mortgage payments. She said that many have full-time jobs, homes and bills to pay.

“They are just not seeing the income they are used to and have to make ends meet,” Bagwell explained.

Through its crisis assistance program, the Salvation Army provides financial help for people with past due utility bills and rent. It also operates a soup kitchen Monday through Friday and stocks a food pantry available Tuesday and Thursday to a limited number of individuals and families in need. Bagwell said she has seen a higher demand for these services in particular.

The Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen has experienced a similar spike in attendance. In late February, the group held the largest lunch service in its 29-year history – a record of 393 meals.

Tamara Gregory, executive director of the nonprofit organization located on the corner of Morgan and McDowell streets in downtown Raleigh shared her concern. “A lot of our folks never thought they would be here,” she remarked.

Like Bagwell, Gregory has also noticed a changing pattern in demographics during the organization’s daily lunch service, reporting a 12 percent increase in white-collar attendance.

The nonprofit organization serves a hot mid-day meal Monday through Friday to anyone who walks through its doors. The lunch line, which traditionally begins to form on Morgan Street by 9:30 a.m., is forming an hour earlier than usual, Gregory said.

“We don’t let anyone go without a meal. We don’t turn anyone away,” Gregory said.

A daily staff of 26 volunteers typically serves 1800 pounds of food a week, but is currently dolling out 2300 pounds to curb the hunger of a growing lunch line.

“We try to let them feel like they are guests in our kitchen,” she said.

“The demand for our services is growing,” said Bruce Storer, director of development for the Raleigh Rescue Mission. “There are a whole lot more people out there that are becoming homeless because their financial road is collapsing on them.”

Located on East Hargett Street, the Raleigh Rescue Mission offers a long-term recovery program and emergency shelter for poor and homeless men, women and children.

Storer describes a common financial scenario for many who can’t support themselves or their families during tough economic times. “There are a lot of people living so close to the edge [financially.] It doesn’t take long for the domino effect,” he said.

He notes that many individuals who are “doubled-up” by staying with a friend or relative, can also be affected. “When the economy really hurts, people can’t afford to have them stay,” Storer added.

Doing more with less

Despite serving lunches to record numbers, The Shepherd’s Table is experiencing a downturn in donations.

“Most people are saying they just can’t give what they gave last year. Many companies are having to make tough decisions between their employees and philanthropy,” said Gregory.

“It is a kind of perverse situation; our economy is really suffering, and so are local businesses. In that climate, demand for their services falls- and this is not so for us,” Storer said.

Among its forecasts for philanthropic giving in 2009, the LBG Research Institute projects a modest increase in corporate giving to organizations that provide basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter.

“We are just asking people to support us as they can,” Storer added. “It is difficult to ask people in this climate to give more.”

According to Storer, in-kind donations are particularly vital and the rescue mission is managing expenses aggressively to compensate for any dropping income.

On the flip side, an encouraging report reveals The Salvation Army of Wake County received a nine percent increase in donations during the 2008 Christmas season.

“We just pray we can offer a little bit of hope and comfort for whatever people are going through,” Bagwell mentioned.

Despite the downturn in donations to her organization, Gregory remains optimistic. “We are pretty fortunate, we haven’t seen our pantry get empty yet,” she said.Similar Posts:

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Greg Wood of Village Auto Werks. Photo by Andrew Mayo.

Despite the barrage of talk about recession, massive bailouts, and staggering unemployment numbers, local Raleigh businesses seem to have quite a rosy outlook. Not booming, not collapsing, but cozy.

Pam Wood of Raleigh’s Village Auto Werks isn’t letting the economic pit intimidate her. Her business, and other similarly-minded businesses have such a close connection to the community that supports them that they haven’t seen much of a change in the last year.

While big business may call on legions of analysts and accountants, Wood’s said her first action to plan for what lies ahead was, “I called my mother.” They’ve cut back on inventory, but little else. Advertising? They give customers free t-shirts and maintain a good reputation with their clients and their community.

“You can’t buy advertising like that,” Wood said, speaking of a recent article featuring their business. Many Raleigh businesses rely solely on word-of-mouth advertising, and maintaining a good standing in the community is a priority.

Village Auto Werks recently relocated from their Cameron Village location to a new garage in Boylan Heights, where they share the space with Bill Harris, who also runs a well-respected garage. While remaining exclusive businesses, they share customers. “Whatever we can’t do, he does. Whatever he can’t do, we do,” Wood said. Even with the initial confusion from moving a business, longtime customers have found their new location and continue to bring their cars there.

The auto repair industry is remaining a necessity as people are tending to maintain the old instead of buying new. Ed Gaddy of Raleigh’s Cycle Logic has been relying on repairs in his shop as well. After a surge in business last summer, which he attributes to the rising gas prices, he has seen a dip in customers. He has already built his business in a way that will get him through, running a bare-bones repair shop.

Ricky Davis of City Market Produce. Photo by Andrew Mayo.

Gaddy’s enthusiasm for bicycles helped built his relationship with local cyclists. A woman walks in to Cycle Logic with her son looking for new tires for his mountain bike. He pulls out the specific tire from a rack and describes its benefits down to the pattern of tread, while talking with the woman about their shared interest in flying. He doesn’t advertise, has minimal employees, and has been running his business steadily since 1974.

The produce stand at City Market has been in business since 1913. They have seen a 25 percent decrease in recent sales, but they are not hurting. Ricky Davis, one of the market’s owners, says he has sees the same customers shopping weekly and does not worry about losing business.

Around the corner, Vic’s Italian Restaurant has a similar story. A 25 percent decrease, but a consistent and loyal clientele. Mario Longo, the owner of Vic’s has cut down on his staff and inventory in preparation. He has no doubts about his businesses success: “We’re gonna make it through – cut a little here, cut a little there – we’re here to stay”

Greg Wood of Village Auto Werks. Photo by Andrew Mayo.

Transportation and food are necessities, but some luxury businesses in Raleigh are also doing well. Dawn Bender of The Glam Lounge, a local salon, said “people are still coming in, but waiting an extra week between appointments”. Even so, their business has picked up recently. Across town at the Rather Unique barber shop, owner Chris Gillette has seen a similar pattern: “instead of coming in every week, people are coming every two weeks”.

Rich Kilby, owner of Raleigh’s Barefoot Press has seen an increase in orders in the last few months. He attributes this growth to new businesses opening in town and to established businesses looking to reach new clientele. And while he is busy marketing for local businesses, his car is being repaired at Pam Wood’s shop right down the road.

Raleigh has been recognized in the current slump as being a “recession proof” city, according to a recent Bizjournal study. The paper also recently ranked Raleigh as being the “best place to start a small business”.Similar Posts:

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