Being Bruce -: Woody Hall Tells Us What Happened, What's Happening, and What May Happen

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Woody Hall Tells Us What Happened, What's Happening, and What May Happen

Short version -Our area is in a period of slower growth, but we are NOT in a recession.

An assembled crowd of approximately 40 members and guests of the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce gathered to hear UNCW's Cameron School of Business Professor William W. (Woody) Hall speak about the regional and local economy. For those who might not be familar with Dr. Hall, he's been the go-to guy on area economic info and projections for more than 20 years.

NBCC President Peggy O'Leary of Premier Staffing Services introduced Dr. Hall.

Dr. Hall gave us lots of facts and figures about the local and regional economy. For a good summary of years and percentages and all the numbers, see Reporter Supremo Shannan Bowen's article in the Star-News by clicking this link.

The bottom line, according to Dr. Hall, is that our area is not in a recession, by any standard economic measure. We are indeed in a time of slower growth. Also, historically anyway, our area experiences national slow downs later than most of the country and we recover sooner. Again this is based on history, and Dr. Hall isn't making firm predictions, but if by the end of 2009 or early 2010 the national economy improves noticeably and significantly, our region will likely already be ahead of the game.