Groundhog Sees Shadow and Hears Upbeat Economic Forecast

Union County Community Leaders Come Together to Find Out the Future

People learned that some aspects of the economy are getting better as they enjoyed lunch at the Inaugural Groundhog Day Economic Forecast luncheon held on Wednesday February 2 at the Historic Armory in Monroe. The luncheon was sponsored by the Monroe Economic Development Commission and the City of Monroe. Centralina WDB Executive Director David Hollars and WDB Business Services Coordinator Vail Carter participated in this great event. The luncheon focused on the state of the local, regional and national economy and what to expect in the future.

The events featured presentations from Tim Quilan, an economist with Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Rick Kaglic, an economist with The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond-Charlotte Branch and Al Guarnieri, a partner with Parker Poe Adams and Bernstein, LLP. Kevin Pitts, publisher and CEO of the Charlotte Business Journal functioned as the event’s moderator.

“We hope this is going to be an annual event,” Mayor Bobby Kilgore of Monroe said. “The speakers gave us a great outlook of what is coming and what things ar elooking like.” The event had a lot of participation from the community, he said.

The economy is now broadly growing. North Carolina and Union County are in good standing when compared to the situation in other states and local areas, Quinlan said. “Even though things have slowed here (in Union County), we’re still growing in population,” he said.

Though there are still issues with unemployment rates, home sales and other aspects of the economy, the state and county have the potential for growth, Guarnieri said. “Companies are cautiously optimistic but they are looking to expand,” he said.

Aerospace/defense, medical, advanced manufacturing, automotive and energy-renewable and efficiency are some industries expected to grow in the future, said Guarnieri. “North Carolina is very competitive when you compare it to its other competition in the southeast US,” he said.

Those that attended the event said they were interested in a lot of what each speaker had to say and especially the discussion of where North Carolina and Union County stand when compared to the rest of the country.

“I feel like we’re in a good place,” Anna Dahl, a sales manager for Best Western Inn and Suites, said. “It seems like we’re slow and steadily moving forward.”

Please continue to look to the Centralina Workforce Development Board’s monthly E-Newsletter for updates on this exciting development in our region!