Owensboro, KY, just like the rest of the US, experienced a hard drop in employment once COVID hit. In fact, its unemployment rate was higher than the national average in April: 14.9%. With luck, hard work, and community spirit, Owensboro was able to turn that around within two months and brought the percentage down to 4.2% (then 5.4% in July), well below the national average and lower than its unemployment earlier in the year.
What is the secret to their success? There happens to be big employers in Owensboro such as Kimberly Clark Toilet Paper, Ragu spaghetti sauce, and Fireball Cinnamon Whisky. Since the spirits business was designated as essential during the pandemic, the Fireball distillery was able to remain open and keep their employees. Even though bar consumption went down, home consumption went up, and they also turned some alcohol into sanitizer. They are actually hiring as well.
Unfortunately and ironically, the Owensboro hospital network took a big hit financially once the pandemic hit due to halting elective surgeries, losing two-thirds of their income. The Owensboro health president decided to not let any employees go since they were in a rural area, and it would be hard to re-recruit because they may not come back. That worked out well for them once they re-opened because they nearly made up much of the revenue lost soon after.
Previously mentioned in another student's article, the mortgage business has been booming during this pandemic as well due to low interest rates. This has bode well for Owensboro because it is also home to a mortgage processing arm of US Bank (one of the largest in the country). Three-quarters of US Bank's employees in Owensboro are still working from home.
Despite challenges like parents trying to work full-time while helping their child through school, Owensboro has been the closest to a "V-shaped" recovery than any other city in the country. I think this goes to show that economic recovery in the US during this pandemic is very much possible, but some places, without as much luck as Owensboro, may need a lot more time, energy, and resources.
Kentucky City Enjoys Booming Economy Amid Pandemic As Rest Of Country Reels
5 comments:
I think it is great that Owensboro was able to "bounce back" during this pandemic. However, the unemployment rate may be a misleading indicator. Was this increase due to people exiting the labor force? Emergency jobs created by COVID? Or perhaps additions of part-time jobs (which are good, but not livable).
These metrics may be as good as they appear, yet I urged that the should be given with a little more context to give a better picture.
Yes, I agree, there could be several threats to the validity of these measures. But in the case where there are no misleading factors, I think that economic recovery is very much possible for other cities as well. Now it might not take place to the same extent to which it did in Owensboro but it could definitely happen. Other states/cities will need to follow the course of Owensboro and invest in resources and businesses that will help bounce back the economy and allow for a 'V-shaped' recession.
I defiantly think that the reason they are doing so well can be attributed to the lack of context of the numbers. on paper this looks great but i imagine the deeper you look into it the less impress you will be with the metrics.
It is great to see more rural areas such as Owensboro be able to recover from the virus as it could of had devastating impacts on a community such as them. In fact, I think it was a great thing that the hospital chose not to lay off some of its employees during this pandemic. Being in a rural area, unemployement may impact an individual or family much more negatively as there is very limited work they can find. Something important to note however about this recovery is that smaller, more rural areas, have not seen much of the virus and many of them have stayed relatively safe from COVID. With less health concerns in regions like Owensboro, there may not be as much consumer insecurity and people have been going on with their lives with relative ease, something that the rest of the country seems to be struggling with.
This is an interesting point of view that I never really thought of. It makes sense why Owensboro is doing so well with recovery though. It brings some sense of relief that some places are getting back to "normal" per say. I also agree with Joe that in rural areas people have less insecurities about going out compared to a big city. I do think that Owensboro was just lucky to have essential, big employers during the pandemic and most likely didn't have such a deep hole to make their way out of once things started moving again like other places.
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