Fresh Loaf

The Atlanta Regional Commission yesterday said that metro Atlanta experienced its slowest year in growth since 1990. Between April 2008 and April 2009, only 24,700 people moved to the 10-county metro area. (That’s after years of averaging more than 77,000 new residents each year.)

Atlanta, which had seen an average of 7,400 residents flock to the city every year since 2000, added only 3,400 new residents.

“We’re definitely seeing the impact of the recession,” Mike Alexander, chief of ARC’s Research Division, said in a press release. “We experienced slower growth in all 10 counties and in the City of Atlanta. Even so, Atlanta continues to lead the region’s growth.”

There’s a little bit of good news, though, something that’ll at least put a smile on the faces of smart-growth aficionados and urban planners. The ARC last week voted to extend its award-winning Livable Centers Initiative program until 2012. Created in 1999, the program offers grants to local governments to plan and design walkable communities where once there had been just cars and congestion.

It was expected to run out of funds and go into limbo late last year, but the $3 million promise of cash means metro residents might have a better chance of seeing blasé suburbanscapes turned into enjoyable places once the economy recovers and development begins anew.

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Earlier today, Gov. Sonny Perdue told reporters the soon-to-be-released April 2009 revenue figures were “not encouraging.”

He wasn’t fibbing. The revenue figures landed in our inboxes a few minutes ago. And to be honest, they’re rather terrible.

Net revenue collections of sales, personal income and corporate incomes taxes last month totaled $1.4 billion, down from $1.8 billion the same time last year. That’s a decrease of 20.6 percent. The year-to-date decrease in revenue collection is 9.6 percent.

According to figures released by the governor’s office, however, booze is still selling like it’s hot.

Perdue did note that last April’s figures were some of the highest the state had ever recorded. But man,  governor, you’ve made the right choice to veto the giant tax-cutting beast sitting on your desk. That thing might get you on Grover Norquist’s speed dial, but it’d just push the state deeper into the red.

If you’re a numbers lover, download the April 2009 revenue figures. (Warning: PDF)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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The AP’s Russ Bynum writes an excellent piece that helps explain why Georgia has found itself at the tippity top of a terrible list — the state with the highest number of bank failures:

Experts say it’s a combination of an antiquated state law that favored a plethora of smaller community banks over multi-branch giants; a population explosion in metro Atlanta that fueled massive suburban real estate development and a crush of new banks formed to cash in on the Atlanta boom shortly before the market tanked.

…

Georgia’s diversity of small banks was an asset when the economy was strong, with consumers benefiting from competitive rates and broader sources of credit, said James Verbrugge, a professor emeritus of finance at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. It became a liability when the bottom fell out of the housing market and smaller banks had less capital to weather the crisis.

The excerpts don’t do the article justice. Give it a read for your daily dose of edumacation.

(Hat tip to Travis Fain)

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Those nifty contrarians at Slate, God bless ‘em, have gone through the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and made a fun and depressing animation of a heady few months of job gains followed by a blood-red pattern of job loss. The animation, which covers January 2007 to February 2009, provides some much-needed context to the headlines and numbers we’ve seen thrown about.

It’s interesting to watch how metropolitan regions went from blue to red. Not surprising, sure, as this is where the bulk of people live. But notice the areas where jobs grew. I heard an interesting rumor while reporting for the Green Guide that laid-off workers in Florida’s manufacturing industry were migrating north into south Georgia to look for jobs. You don’t see much of that in this animation, or you don’t see if they landed work, but it’d be interesting to also plug migration data into this map.

And look at that little blue dot along the Mid-Atlantic. That’s Washington, D.C., people! Or at least I think it is! Regardless, socialism! Government job programs! Big Government blah blah blah! (Click the screenshot to head to Slate’s site and watch the animation.)

(Screenshot from Slate)

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Whereas, things worth remembering need names. Children, pets, generations, boats. If we didn’t name them, then we might forget ‘em.

Whereas, when this current recession — or “current economic crisis” — ends, we better have some way of distinguishing it from the other occasional economic dips this country’s seen.

Whereas, I, Thomas Wheatley, who as an employee of Creative Loafing enjoy a wide variety of useless trinkets in my vicinity, have the desire to award the commenter who provides the best name for the “current economic crisis” with a scribbled-on Sany Group hat snatched from an “economic development” announcement. Or a National Rife Association bumper sticker currently plastered on my cubicle wall. (Or maybe tickets to something? I don’t know, I can’t promise anything. I’ll have to check with our marketing department.)

Therefore, let it be resolved that I am sick and tired of referring to the “current economic crisis” as such, and would like to know what to call this damn catastrophe in which the country finds itself.

Please leave your suggestions in the comments. You can also e-mail me. Be sure to let me know how I can get back in touch with you.

(Many more silly boat photos at Media-Post)

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NOT A SHOCKER: Last week

Late last fall, Sam Warren lost a client who’d fallen on hard times. That client was the state of Georgia.

The 52-year-old consultant and Powder Springs resident, who made his living writing operational manuals for corporations and government agencies, learned the state was instituting a “hard freeze” on outside contracts. Warren, who says never in his life has he left one job without another firmly in place, started making calls to drum up more business. Then he made some more calls.

Now, friends who told Warren in November that they’d try to help him secure work are looking for work themselves.

“It’s dry,” he says. “Dry and dead.”

Last week, Warren was among the estimated 19,000 people who packed into the Georgia World Congress Center to compete for what’s beginning to seem like an impossible find: a job.

Read the rest of this feature here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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First come the slots. Then come the men cavorting with white tigers and the true artistes! But until then…baby steps.

And today, the Atlanta City Council voiced its support  for a plan that could drastically change Underground Atlanta and bring gambling — well, video lottery terminals — to the long suffering downtown attraction. Council voted 11-0 to approve a resolution supporting the proposal and form a committee to study the project.

Underground Atlanta leaseholders Dan O’Leary and John Aderhold say a remake of the area could bring jobs and much-needed revenue to the city. The two recently proposed a $500 million redevelopment plan that would convert Underground Atlanta’s 12 acres into a complex featuring a 29-story hotel, restaurants, shops and lottery terminals.

(more…)

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Last August, Wordsmiths customers helped it avoid shutting down. As of today, however, the popular downtown Decatur bookstore is closed.

From its blog:

I’ve pondered how to start this, but this is the best I can come up with. There is no great way to begin the end of a dream, and there is no gentle way to state that finality is upon you. That said, I regret to announce that, as of Monday, March 2nd, 2009, Wordsmiths Books will close its doors for good. I don’t do this willingly, and I would love to say that there were avenues of exploration yet to wander, possibilities that could avert this outcome, but that would be untruthful. I have explored every possibility open to me, but the sheer magnitude of the decline in sales alone (on the heels of our efforts to right the boat) from our current economic downturn has long since evaporated the fumes. Frankly put, there’s nothing left to make the engine go, and sitting on the side of the road with a thumb out doesn’t seem to earn you much grace as a business.

Be sure to read it in full as it’s a poignant goodbye post.

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The restaurant industry's stimulus package?

A report in today’s Star-Telegram of Fort Worth, Texas suggests the tit-centric casual dining concept pioneered by Atlanta-based Hooter’s may be recession-proof.

Hooters had systemwide sales of $997 million in 2008, up 2 percent from 2007, according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution report.

Sensing an opportunity, Hooter’s “breastaurant” rival Twin Peaks plans to augment its operations — opening a seventh restaurant in Texas and selling franchising rights elsewhere.

I read the Star-Telegram story just minutes after I finished yesterday’s New York Times Magazine cover story about female sexual arousal.

It’s all got me wondering, will there ever be a successful restaurant chain catering to female lust, or will Summer Sausage Bistro and Baloney Pony Cafe be forever consigned to the book of stupid band names and restaurants I keep on the shelf next to my desk?

(Photo courtesy TwinPeaksRestaurant.com)

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What do people mean when they say the nation is experiencing its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression?

Georgia’s unemployment rate just hit 8.1 percent, a 26-year high.

26-years ago, the country had barely begun to climb out of what was, at that point, the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

The job market in Georgia today is already as weak as it was during the early 1980s recession. But the current recession hasn’t bottomed-out yet. Unemployment is projected to rise until 2010.

If its a worse recession than we had from 1981-83, it’s the worst since the Great Depression.

Brother, can you spare $1.36*?

(*A 1931 dime, adjusted to its 2007 value via the Consumer Price Index)

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The Georgia Association of Rail Passengers has called for Gov. Sonny Perdue to restore funding for the Atlanta-Griffin commuter rail line that’s been earmarked for federal dollars and which the governor said he’d support during last year’s gas shortage. U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., has already scolded Perdue for not funding the line.

Passenger rail advocates are calling on the Georgia General Assembly to approve $15 million in funding for Atlanta-Griffin commuter rail line, despite Governor Sonny Perdue’s failure to include the money in his budget.

“It’s extremely unfortunate that the Governor went back on his promise to fund the Atlanta-Griffin line,” said Steve Vogel, president of the Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers (GARP).  “It also was a big mistake.”

The federal government has $87 million set aside for the rail project, but it’s been stalled for years by state government inaction.  The Georgia Department of Transportation has asked for $15 million to get the project moving again.

Rest of the release is after the jump.
(more…)

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SPARE $2 BILLION? Perdue delivers bad budget news to lawmakers

It’s a shame Gov. Sonny Perdue’s penchant for prayer doesn’t work as well for deficits as it did for drought. If that were the case, Georgia would literally be swimming in greenbacks.

With revenues plummeting in an economic landscape akin to Mad Max, the state is currently facing a $2 billion shortfall, the deepest hole anyone at the Gold Dome says they’ve ever seen. In response last week, Perdue delivered a cost-cutting whack, slashing nearly all state agencies and programs — many of which state Democrats say help the most vulnerable of Georgians in this most precarious of times.

The Department of Labor, the state agency that’s been the first stop for pink-slipped residents? Nearly 13 percent cut. The Public Defender Standards Council, the arm of government that provides indigent defense attorneys in an attempt to ensure justice for both defendant and victims? Almost 11 percent cut. The departments of Education, Community Health and Human Resources? Cut, cut, and cut. State employees’ salaries? Frozen — and vacant positions eliminated.

Add to that the $350 million slashed from K-12 educational funding, and you’re left with a budget that has little wiggle room. From lobbyists to lawmakers, behind-the-scenes staffers to Gold Dome shoeshine men, everyone we queried agrees: The 2009 legislative session will be about money, and what little of it the state has.

(more…)

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It’s not just the state’s $2.3 billion budget deficit that’s giving Gov. Sonny Perdue a headache.

The AJC’s Alan Judd reports that the clock is ticking for the governor to repay a $21 million loan given to him last September by a small bank in Perry, Ga. Perdue borrowed the money for his two agricultural businesses. (Since taking office in 2002, the governor has differed from his predecessors in that he still operates his businesses rather than placing them in a blind trust. The strategy seems to have paid off — according to Judd, Perdue’s financial holdings have risen in value since he took office.)

But…(cue ominous tone)

… public records and interviews suggest the governor got the loan under remarkable circumstances.

The lender — a farm credit bank based in Perry — allowed Perdue to put up collateral worth less than 20 percent of the loan’s value, according to a security deed filed in Houston County Superior Court. Commercial lenders typically insist on a far greater level of collateral, and the federal agency that regulates farm banks requires strict underwriting standards to guarantee loan repayment.

The bank, AgGeorgia Farm Credit, focuses on real estate lending and carries just $55 million in business loans on its books, according to its latest quarterly report. Now a large proportion of that portfolio is devoted to the governor, who is a familiar figure to AgGeorgia’s leaders: Eight of the bank’s 23 directors contributed to Perdue’s re-election campaign in 2006.

Oh, and what was the loan for? Perdue won’t say.

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Let the taps flow. For now, at least.

From the city’s Department of Watershed Management:

The Department of Watershed Management is restoring water service to Morris Brown College after officials presented the Department with a certified check for $30,000 a few minutes ago. In making the payment, the college complied with Judge Henry Newkirk’s order that Morris Brown pay $100,000 today ($70,000 after this morning’s hearing and $30,000 before 5 pm) toward its delinquent water/sewer bills. The balance on the remaining outstanding accounts, approximately $214,000, is to be paid on or before February 17, and the college must pay current charges.

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Alejandro linked to it below in this morning’s Newsdome, but I’ll save you the guessing game! From the Wall Street Journal:

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Fourteen miles north of Atlanta is a suburb of wide boulevards, sleepy cul-de-sacs and bustling red-brick shopping centers. It also is the bank-failure capital of the U.S.

In just 13 months, three banks based within a few miles of each other went bust. Three more in other Atlanta suburbs were seized by regulators in 2008, as the region was haunted by overabundant home building, years of risky lending and one of the most relaxed regulatory environments in the U.S. for starting new banks, according to some experts.

…

Alpharetta Mayor Arthur Letchas bristles at the city’s distinction as an epicenter of bad banking, noting that 22 other banks have at least one office here. Technically, Integrity doesn’t count as Alpharetta-based, Mr. Letchas says, since its headquarters were just outside the city limits in Johns Creek, Ga.

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>> Gas is super cheap and getting cheaper. For some reason, this is a bad thing.

>> Apparently, Manhattanites don’t get drunk anymore. Polite sipping of champagne — yes. Tequila-induced shouting and flailing about — no. In other news, Middle America has new proof for the East Coasters-are-elitist-commies theories they shout while drunkenly flailing about.

>> Chris Weitz is named as the new director for the Twilight sequel. Because the director that jump-started the franchise’s films to the tune of $200 million and counting wasn’t good enough?

>> The Sicilian mob goes all Humpty Dumpty, trying to put itself back together again — but fails.

>> Also failing on a massive scale: French terrorists. News flash — explosives that don’t explode aren’t exactly terrifying.

>> The latest numbers say NASCAR drivers face far fewer accidents these days than five years ago. Back then, driving in circles was way harder.

>> In more failure news, MARTA warns of “Draconian” cuts to staff and transit options. But soon, you might be able to carry a bagel on the train along with your gun!

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The recession is taking its toll on MARTA.

MARTA General Manager and CEO Bev Scott says “devastating” drops in revenue collected from local sales taxes — which comprise 52 percent of its operating budget — has led to a shortfall of at least $60 million.

It’s worth mentioning that nearly every state contributes to its largest metropolitan area’s transit system’s operating costs — but Georgia does not.

Scott will hold a press conference to discuss the problem on Monday at MARTA’s Piedmont Road headquarters. It will begin immediately after the regularly scheduled Board of Directors meeting at 1:30 p.m.

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Polling organization Rasmussen Reports says:

The majority of voters in Georgia (53%) say Republican Governor Sonny Perdue is not doing enough to help them through the economic recession, though he still earns fairly positive reviews.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state found that one in four voters (25%) say the governor is doing enough for Georgians, while another 22% remain undecided.

…

Still, more than half of voters (57%) approve of the way Perdue is handling his job as governor, while 39% disapprove.

The menz like duh govnuh. The ladies say “meh.” Also:

The early frontrunners among Republicans for the 2010 governor race in Georgia are Casey Cagle and John Oxendine. Cagle is currently serving as lieutenant governor, and Oxendine is the state insurance commissioner. Both men are favored by 14% of Republicans.

Among Democrats, former Governor Roy Barnes leads the pack of 2010 contenders with 28% support. Twenty-two percent (22%) of Democrats would consider voting for Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin for governor.

Check out the full rundown of responses. Among them: Barack Obama will do a better job as president than George W. Bush and native son Jimmy Carter.

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Effective Jan. 11, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says it will shrink its circulation area to 27 counties and cut 156 jobs. The affected counties are mostly located along the Alabama and North Carolina borders (full list is available through the link). Jobs slated to be cut appear to be in the circulation department. (If I’m mistaken, please correct me in the comments or via e-mail. Anonymity guaranteed.)

From the report:

The move will reduce daily and Sunday circulation about 5 percent. But it will not significantly affect overall readership — a measure of readers rather than the number of copies — because that is based on a 28-county area, the AJC said.

The company said 215 employees have been offered involuntary severance packages as part of a restructuring of the circulation department, but that they may apply for 59 jobs created by the changes. The net reduction is 156 full- and part-time positions.

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Black Friday, who loves ya, baby?

From Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office:

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that net revenue collections for the month of November 2008 (FY09) totaled $1,419,543,000 compared to $1,399,595,000 for November 2007 (FY08), an increase of $19,948,000 or 1.4 percent.

The percentage decrease year-to-date for FY09 compared to FY08 is -1.3 percent.

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This time last year, Georgia’s unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, just below the national unemployment rate of 4.7 percent.

The latest stats put Georgia’s unemployment rate at 7 percent, well-ahead of the national unemployment rate of 6.5 percent.

For as long as I can remember, Georgia has been a job-magnet. This year, it’s a job-repellent. So far in 2008, Georgia has lost more jobs than every state except Michigan.

Dr. Rajeev Dhawan of Georgia State University’s Economic Forecast Center expects unemployment in Georgia to keep rising until 2010.

Something to keep in mind: official state and national unemployment stats only tally as unemployed people who are actively seeking full-time work.

Among the unemployed who are not counted in official stats: people who have given up looking for full-time work, freelance and self-employed people who can’t find any paying work, and skilled professional who take low-skill, low-wage jobs because they cannot find work in their chosen field.

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Luxury lifestyle magazine Atlanta Peach shut down yesterday.

The AJC reports the staff was told yesterday:

Human resource representatives from parent company Niche Media Holdings arrived at the publication’s Buckhead offices Tuesday and informed publisher Elizabeth Schulte Roth and her staff that the magazine was suspending publication, citing the current economy.

The company representatives then confiscated the staff’s corporate BlackBerrys. By early Wednesday morning, the Atlanta Peach magazine Web site had already been dismantled.

I was a regular freelance contributor to Peach in 2006 and early 2007. It was a great job — the staff was talented and fun, and it paid well. I only quit because I joined CL full-time in 2007.

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The New York Times had a piece this weekend examining how Savannah is faring during the economic downturn. Cargo shipping in the city — the fifth-largest along the East Coast — has flattened. Jobs have been cut at the ports while facility expansion has been ordered to go ahead. And then there’s this:

While [Georgia Ports Authority executive director Doug Marchand] and many others await an upturn, Savannah’s economy deteriorates. The unemployment rate in the three-county metropolitan area has jumped to 5.7 percent from 3.9 percent a year earlier. Analysts attribute the jump to hiring freezes and a lot of little job cuts.

With home sales down 24 percent, the local Coldwell Banker has watched its army of real estate brokers, the largest in the city, dwindle to 180 from 240 last year. “They just went into other businesses or stopped working altogether,” said Connie F. Ray, chief executive of the Coldwell operation here, adding that through last year brokers had been averaging $40,000 to $50,000 annually in commissions.

Manufacturers still have a big presence here, employing 15 percent of greater Savannah’s 171,000 workers, but factory employment is shrinking. Georgia-Pacific, for example, which makes paper towels, napkins and toilet paper at a mill here, no longer hires dozens of contract workers. They had been used as a flexible work force, a supplement to the 1,200 regular employees, to step up production during demand surges, now nonexistent.

Not all of Savannah is hurting, the article says — five hotels are under construction and Fort Stewart’s expanding. Luxury jetmaker Gulfstream is headquartered in the city; a company spokesperson says a long list of backorders will keep its workers busy for at least the next three years.

And there’s another sign of hope:

“When I go by a Red Lobster inn on the south side on a Friday night,” [John C. Helmken II of Savannah Bancorp] says, “there are people lined up waiting to be seated.”

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Have you noticed an increase in the number of empty storefronts around town?

Your eyes are not deceiving you.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Atlanta’s retail center vacancy rate rose to 12 percent in the third quarter, according to the bi-annual Retail Real Estate Report published Monday by Colliers International.

The 12 percent vacancy rate compared with a rate of 8.9 percent as of Dec. 31, 2007 and is higher than the U.S. rate of 9.3 percent.

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The Center for the New American Dream has created an online guide on how to save money and improve your quality of life at the same time. It basically puts an emphasis on economically buying quality products (those that last and work well), and at the same time has a lot of PC stuff like helping the environment, etc.

I interviewed Lisa Wise, the center’s director, for this story on the particular challenges Atlanta faces with this economic downturn. She also sent me this column about the prospects for good things coming out of a recession. So she sent me the link.

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