Page 8 • Thursday, August 28, 2003
NEWS
The Pendulum
Alamance County seeks to rejoin combined statistical area
From page 1
national figures of 6.2 percent and
just above the state average of 4.8
percent.
“Right now our people are fac
ing the same dilemma that people
are facing all over the world. This
is not just an Alamance recession,
it’s a worldwide recession,” said
Sonny Wilburn, president of the
Alamance County Chamber of
Commerce. “There have been
many, many jobs lost with the
flights to cheaper labor markets.”
But while national leaders see
progress toward a reversal of the
recent economic recession with
added jobs and new industries,
Alamance continues to lose jobs,
according to Jerome Cheek, man
ager of the Employment Security
Commission of Alamance
County.
“We have not seen the turn
around,” Cheek said, echoing
Wilburn's concern for Alamance's
current business climate. “We are
still losing jobs in the county and
it’s just a matter of the people with
the money investing it.”
The ESC has served record
numbers of clients in recent
months, many of whom are in the
fourth extension of federal fund
ing, according to Cheek. These
benefits, given to unemployed
workers who are actively seeking
re-employment, most likely will
not see a fifth extension, he said.
“We are waiting. We are hop
ing with the efforts of the
Economic Development [organi
zations] and the Chamber of
Commerce that they will be able
to successfully recruit new busi
ness to the area,” Cheek said.
Next month, Wilburn, the
Strides toward a
sustainable economy
chamber and its economic devel
opment forces will visit consult
ing markets in Greenville, S.C.
and Atlanta, Ga. to present them
with updated marketing materials
about the Alamance area.
“The consulting firms are
often hired by companies looking
for new locations and we want to
keep our name in front of the con
sultants,” Wilburn said. “We have
targeted industrial sectors and we
continue to market ourselves
among those targeted industries.”
The Alamance area is a viable
region for business and new
industry, according to Wilburn.
“We are still growing,”
Wilburn said. “I think most of
[the local recession] will be cor
rected once the economy turns
around.” Large manufacturers or
other large industries deciding to
relocate to the Alamance area,
will be making new investments
in the local economy.
The Chamber of Commerce
recently launched a successful
campaign to reinstate Alamance
County in the Greensboro,
Winston-Salem and High Point
combined statistical area. After
being omitted this past year due
to lack of voiced concern for its
inclusion, Alamance risked losing
federal funding given to agencies
based on their statistical area and
valuable marketing pull achieved
by its location within one of the
top markets in the state.
In addition to plant closings,
textile and furniture imports and
44
Right now our people are facing the same
diiennma that people are facing all over the
world. This is not just an Alamance recession,
it’s a worldwide recession.
• Sonny Wilburn, president of the Alamance County
Chamber of Commerce
manufacturing slow-downs,
Alamance’s exclusion from the
Greensboro, Winston-Salem and
High Point CSA could have had a
huge negative impact on the local
economy, according to a state
ment Wilburn made in June.
Alamance’s reinstatement to the
CSA will have a huge trickle
down effect for the benefit of the
community, according to
Wilburn.
“Being an MSA (metropolitan
statistical area) on your own, a
very small one, although it has
some rewards because some com
munities don’t have that status, its
not nearly as beneficial as being
in a combined statistical area,”
Wilburn said. He explained that a
combined statistical area attracts
larger advertising investments,
federal funding disbursements
and companies willing to locate
business in that given area.
Next Issue...
Part two of the local economy
update: Making Alamance a
profitable investment and the
economic outlook for Bon
students.
Contact Jessica Patchett at pen-
dulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
Elon receives top rankings
for beautiful campus, —
student-teacher interaction
From page 1
published every year, information is gath
ered for only a third of the colleges each
year, said Dan Anderson, director of
University Relations at Elon. "The data set
is different every year by a third," he said,
■■'['he infonnaiion gathered one year from
certain schools will not be gathered again
for two more years,"
U.S. News and World Report ranks Elon
sixth among southern universities for its
studeni retention rates and academic repu-
lalion. In the area of universities with grad
uate programs, I-ion ranked ninth among
1,^1 southern universilies.
Nalionally. Hlon was honored in three of
the eight categories of programs that lead to
student success. The university is honoreii
for its service learning programs, learning
communities, and for slutlonls having good
first year experiences with a smmnh transi
tion from high school to college.
Other schools that received honors in
three or more categories include Harvard,
Duke, Princeton, and Yale. Out of the
1,400 colleges and universities recog
nized, only twelve were named to three or
more areas of excellence.
Unlike the Princeton Review, U.S.
News and World Report ranks colleges
based on surveys of college presidents,
deans and other members of the adminis
tration, as well as institutional data such
as annual alumni giving and retention
rates. Schools not included in the rank
ings are those not accredited, specialty
schools, or tlie military academies such as
West Point or the Citadel. This is the sec
ond year Elon has been ranked by The
Princeton Review and the third year Elon
has been on the Southern top 10 in the
U.S. News.
Contact Adam Smith at
l)cnduliim@elon.cdu or 27H-7247.
Matt Belanger / Photographer
The Princeton Review recently ranked Elon second in the nation for a beautiful
campus. U.S. News ranked Elon sixth among southern universities for academic
reputation and retention rates. Additionally, Eton's graduate program ranked ninth.