GEORGETOWN, S.C. —  A noted CCU researcher believes Georgetown’s economy won’t improve to pre-recession levels for several years if business activity doesn’t increase faster.

That’s what Coastal Carolina University research economist Don Schunk told elected officials from across the county during a session dealing with the local and state economy held Monday.

County Administrator Sel Hemingway, who organized the informational meeting, said the area is “experiencing a time in our economy unlike any we have seen or experienced.”

The jobless rate in Georgetown County was 14.6 percent in January.

February figures are expected to be released this week. Those figures should be about the same or slightly higher, Schunk said.

The problem, Schunk said, is the unemployment rates that are reported are deceiving.

He said as many as ten percentage points can be added to those numbers when people who are underemployed or who have stopped looking for work are factored into the equation.

Schunk spoke mainly about the manufacturing industry which — along with construction, healthcare and education fields — provides the highest paying jobs.

While the average household income in Georgetown County is about $33,000, the average wage in the manufacturing industry is about $54,000.

However, the local manufacturing industry has shed hundreds of jobs in the past decade.

Schunk said there were about 2,900 manufacturing jobs in the county in the early 2000s which has dropped to about 2,200.

He said because of things such as automation, the trend is for larger manufacturing plants with "smaller parking lots."

Replacing manufacturing jobs with tourism-industry jobs is not the best solution, Schunk said.

He said if 100 manufacturing jobs are replaced with 100 leisure and hospitality jobs, it costs the county about $10 million in annual household income, a net loss of 112 jobs.

A glimmer of hope

Schunk said while the economy is growing at a slow pace, it is growing.

“We don’t know right now what manufacturing will do but there are some positive signs,” he said.

He noted the recent Boeing manufacturing plant in North Charleston as an example.

Even if a new job-creating facility locates in another county, it’s still a win for Georgetown County.

That’s because, he said, only about half the workers in Georgetown County actually work inside the county. Nearly 27 percent commute to other counties such as Horry, Charleston and Marion.

“There are no such things as county lines as far as the economy is concerned,” Schunk said. “If a business locates in Horry or Charleston, it’s still a win as long as it’s somewhere close to you.”

The bottom line, Schunk said, is Georgetown County has to find a way to attract and keep manufacturing jobs while continuing to increase the number of tourist related jobs.

By Scott Harper

sharper@gtowntimes.com