Coachella Valley Economy Struggles

Last week experts gave the Coachella Valley economy a grade of D+, which is not much better than an "F." We were an early indicator of the direction the rest of the world would go. Because our economy was so dependent upon new home building, when things went bad, our economy soured earlier than much of the rest of the U.S.

The Hispanic community has been especially hard hit, because the majority of the skilled and unskilled workers who built all those houses were Hispanic. Those tradesmen are now out of work. The situation isn't much better for the businesses that cater to people moving into new homes including furniture stores, flooring and carpet dealers, and home improvement businesses. Local auto dealers are having a tough time, and my heart goes out to all who depend upon that business everywhere in our country. Even if a willing buyer wants to purchase a car, credit is difficult to get.

Businesses who cater to snowbirds are wondering what kind of vacation season we'll see this year. My best guess there is that our Canadian guests will return in force. Canada's resource-driven economy seems to be weathering the economic storm better than most countries, and the Canadian dollar, or "Looney" is still worth more than a U.S. Dollar.

Part-time residents are already returning to our neighborhood, and it's encouraging to see the lights on their homes on at night and the bustle at some of the local restaurants.

We local broadcasters depend upon local retailers and service providers for advertising dollars. The advertising business has been hit, too, by declining budgets. Local businesses just don't have as much money as they once had to advertise. Take a look at the Desert Sun. It's narrow and the copy has been reduced to six columns. They changed the size of the roll of paper used to print the newspaper. In the newspaper business it's called the "web." I find that ironic, since it's the WEB (Internet) which is eating into all media businesses. Newsprint is one of the most expensive items used to create a newspaper. Newsprint prices have been rising and advertising revenues have been declining. That is a recipe for economic trouble.

Like everyone else, all we can do is hunker down and push straight ahead until the storm dies down.