Moving along as others move down
Not everyone's hurting in a down economy
Some industries in St. Charles County continue to be stable, and some even have benefited from seemingly rough consequences of economic frailty such as a weak U.S. dollar.
"Our business is better off today than it was a year ago," said Don Vondriska, director of business development with Novus International, which is building its new world headquarters in the Missouri Research Park in St. Charles. The research and development company develops animal and food nutrition products, and has offices in 83 countries.Novus isn't the only company singing a tune about better days, as sectors such as aerospace manufacturing and information technology and some sectors of the health care industry ramp up larger profits when most of the economy is telling of doom and gloom.
"We're hiring more people to serve growing markets," Vondriska said. "You have economic pluses and minuses - high energy costs, corn being used for ethanol driving up prices - that everyone has to deal with, but at the end of the day, we have a strong demand for food, and it's very positive for a company like Novus that is, A, international and, B, focused on sustainable solutions for nutrition."
Transportation costs are up for Novus and other worldwide companies, which can drive up total expenses by 20 percent or more. Sales to Europe at mid-June were up 23 percent for the year, compared to the same period last year, rising in lock-step with the euro, which increased in value by the same amount over the dollar. Sales in euros for Novus provide for the largest portion of company revenue other than sales made in U.S. dollars, Vondriska said.
Low interest rates, too, help companies like Novus, which has most of its debt in U.S. dollars.
Aerospace manufacturing, which includes companies like Westar Aerospace & Defense Group in St. Charles, Boeing Co. and a handful of other companies that supply to the defense and aerospace industry, continues to remain strong, too.
Tobiah Huwe, a senior applications engineer with VSM Abrasives Corp. in O'Fallon, said that both military and commercial demand in the aerospace industry remains strong.
"American products are now a deal to the rest of the world," Huwe said. "In some ways, the lower dollar has helped keep some businesses here."
AS COMPANIES DOWNSIZE,
IT SERVICES RAMP UP
One of the usual suspects for corporate job cuts is in a company's on-site IT staff, said Brinda Beasley, who runs St. Charles-based Newberry Group's IT staffing services.
"We've remained stable and even seen some slight growth as a lot of IT staffing we do and services businesses might tend to do in-house (during good economic times) tend to outsource," Beasley said.
As corporations tighten their belts on spending and shed projects and employees that aren't an absolute necessity, Beasley said many companies call in a consulting labor force to finish important projects.
"I don't think any aspect of any industry is recession-proof, that would be too euphoric," Beasley said. "I do think IT tends to be far more stable, though."
As corporations thin their job ranks, increased efficiency becomes necessary, Beasley said, which means software and systems management need to be improved.
"When you go to work every day, you expect your computer to turn on regardless of whether the economy is working or it isn't," she said.
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPANIES WITH EXPORTS
While not every company in St. Charles County can boast of export-driven economic growth, as much of the economy trends downward as it is pinched by consumers keeping a tighter grip on their pocketbooks, export-driven industries in Missouri appear to have a strong impact on the economy.
While accounting for only 3 percent of employment in the state, the average earnings per worker are 27 percent higher for export-dependent jobs, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.
The vast majority of jobs dependent on exports are in grain and oilseed farming, though wholesale trade, aircraft manufacturing and executive management positions are close behind.
Nationally, U.S. factory orders in May rose 0.6 percent. Factory orders indicate how busy factories are likely to be in the period ahead. It was the third consecutive monthly rise.
In St. Charles County, where manufacturing, wholesale trade and retail trade account for nearly 30 percent of employment, such numbers are surely a welcome sign.
HEALTH CARE HIRING UP
In an economy that shrank by 20,000 jobs in April, education and health services gained 52,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. In the midst of a perpetual nursing shortage, it is perhaps not surprising that health care hiring as a whole has sustained.
"I think every hospital across the country is looking to hire nurses and other health care professionals," said David Ross, president of Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital. But Ross said that patient volumes have been going down slightly across the St. Louis area, Ross said. With dropping volumes, particularly for elective procedures like colonoscopy and plastic surgery, demand is down. But if you're a health care professional, you may very well find you're still in strong demand.
"Frankly, over the last 10 years, the demand for health care workers, especially nurses, has far exceeded supply," Ross said. "I think the economy has led more people to thinking about going into health care, as it's more stable than other industries."
Amid that relative stability, Ross says hospitals are keeping a tighter eye on their budget, and may delay hiring for certain positions in a down economy.
"It would be a mistake to think hospitals and health care are recession-proof," he said.
SOME HOUSING SHOWING SIGNS
Most home builders are feeling the weight of a sluggish economy, but in St. Charles County, multifamily housing has been up. In April, the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri reported 144 multifamily permits were issued, most as a result of a 74-unit expansion of the Boulders at Katy Trail condominium development by Mills Properties in St. Charles.
