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How did September 11
impact Kitsap business?
Most local companies say it hurt, but only
in the short term. Others actually see opportunity
By Lary Coppola |
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| Signs just like this standing proud for America have popped up on readerboards countywide in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The most popularly displayed sentiment — God Bless America. |
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You would had to have been on another planet to not know what has happened to the economy on the national level since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11.
The stock market went in the toilet the week it finally opened, but started to rebound the second week after the attacks. The airlines are all still bleeding, as is the entire travel and tourism industry. Closer to home, Boeing announced it would lay off 30,000 people.
But what direct impact has it had in Kitsap County — a place reliant on the military as the mainstay of its economy?
A random sampling of local companies found that during the week of the attacks, retail business came almost to a standstill. However, by the beginning of the next week, local business was almost back to normal and some companies actually have increased business as a result.
At the Haselwood Auto Group, marketing director Mike Gould, was pretty upbeat, while admitting that business had cooled considerably in the short term.
“We’ve seen a significant downturn in business that can be directly attributed to those events,” he openly admitted. “The purchase of long term durable goods doesn’t happen when the economy is uncertain and people are being laid off.”
But he was positive about the future outlook, saying the Bremerton dealerships would use the time productively, putting the finishing touches on projects and programs it had under development so they were immediately ready to roll when things stabilized.
“We didn’t know what to expect, but I believe we are going to see a significant uptick once this all settles down,” Gould said enthusiastically. “Once those government dollars begin to be expended here things will pick right back up.”
Things were quite a bit different at Concept Offices in Poulsbo. The firm is a contract furniture dealership that specializes in outfitting offices and office buildings.
“Well, I know that our largest customer had orders placed with companies in the World Trade Center that were valued in the millions of dollars, and now those orders are on hold,” commented Sonja Sutton, a project manager, with the firm.
“Locally, this same customer has Boeing as a customer, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen there with the layoffs and all. We don’t know yet for sure if those orders will be put on hold, so it definitely has had some impact on us,” she added.
It also has had a negative impact on Susan Lanyi, of The Direct Approach, promoter of the Business and Job Opportunity Expo that was scheduled to be held at the Kitsap Pavilion on Oct. 19 and 20. Lanyi was forced to cancel the show which ran very successfully last year.
“The economy is so slow since all this happened that people are shying away from committing,” she said. Lanyi said her optimum time for finalizing booth space sales and locking down her exhibitors was the week of the Sept. 10.
“What most of the people I spoke with said, was they were very sorry, but in light of what had happened, this is just not a good time,” she lamented. She did note that most wanted to be contacted next year, and blames the cancellation mainly on a slow local economy, but more on the events of Sept. 11 than any other single thing. “Booth sales were at a pace equal to last year up to that point,” she said.
At Telebyte NW, a Silverdale internet service provider, co-owner Alta Kendall said business has actually increased somewhat as a result. “We’ve added a number of customers who came to realize they need to know more about what’s going on than what they get from traditional media.”
“They’ve heard from friends and other people who have been able to use the internet to research things like Afghanistan, the Taliban and other aspects of the situation, and have decided it’s finally time to get online.”
At Paladin Data Systems in Poulsbo, the event is also spurring increased business. “Although our current level of service hasn’t changed, we’re trying to re-evaluate how this is going to change our planning for the future,” said spokesperson Shannon Childs.
She said there had been no immediate impact on the company, but added, “We’ve already seen several customers reevaluate what they are going to require over the next 12 months. I think everyone is in a position of trying to redraw those plans, but more information on what may happen is needed before they are finalized.”
The company is viewing their customers changing strategies as an opportunity. “As an information service provider, we offer service that can’t always be put off,” noted Childs. “As companies look to cut costs, they often implement information management strategies at times like this to achieve greater efficiencies. We will add new products, evaluate our services, and look at new market opportunities in response to what our clients want and need.”
At Kitsap Mall, there was only minimal disruption.
“We won’t know sales-wise until the merchants report their September sales, which isn’t until after the month is over,” said Mall manager Dan Engelhard.
What Engelhard did say was that what they do know about is traffic counts because it is monitored on a daily basis, and he was quick to point out there is a big difference between sales and traffic.
“The exact three days that followed the event we were off an average of five percent. Obviously, we were closed the day of the event so we were impacted that day. Since then, it has picked back up. We expect to finish the month about the same as last year in September.”
One thing Engelhard pointed out was that in spite of the slightly lower traffic count, sales may actually improve. “There’s not a lot of traveling going on right now, and we expect a certain percentage of those people will come and spend some of their vacation money here.”
As Engelhard pointed out, one of the hardest hit segments of the economy was tourism and travel. However, according to Grant Griffin, executive director of the Kitsap County Visitor and Convention Bureau, the disruption locally should be minimal.
“The immediate impact was pretty substantial on the hotel side. In talking to the hoteliers that deal primarily with the government traveler, they feel it’s only a temporary situation,” said Griffin. “But the casual traveler isn’t coming back quite as rapidly. And that’s something that is of concern because it’s a big impact on our economy.”
He did note that cancellations of hotel bookings in October and farther out are practically nil.
Griffin also said the VCB plans to continue marketing Kitsap County to Western Washington — mainly King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. He also said that the tourism bureaus in those counties are promoting heavily right now and that Kitsap will be a beneficiary of partnering with them in that effort.
Zoltan Szigethy, executive director of the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council, was very reflective about the overall impact this will have on Kitsap.
“The airline layoffs and the Boeing layoffs don’t really impact us because of where we are,” he said. “We know there about 600 Boeing workers living in Kitsap County. Under the worst of circumstances, if Boeing cuts a third of its workforce, it’s about 200 jobs we could be out in this county. But counter-acting that are some tradeoffs. With some congressional help, those Boeing workers may find additional work in Boeing’s defense related business.”
Szigethy also pointed out that there could be some positive ripple effects, saying a fair number of the Boeing layoffs are expected to be engineers — something PSNS is in desperate need of. He also said the attacks are certain to spawn major increases in defense spending which will be used to upgrade and modernize our military — something that has always benefited Kitsap.
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