I was honored to be guest speaker Wednesday at a Pickaway County Chamber event. Part of my talk included some analysis of the Pickaway County economy. I always enjoy these deeper dives into local economies because of the significant economic differences among the eight counties of our region. Pickaway County’s economy is driven by manufacturing. The 2,450 manufacturing jobs in 2007 represented almost 17 percent of the county’s total employment – a concentration 63 percent greater than the U.S. and twice that of the Columbus region as a whole. As is true of other manufacturing-oriented areas, efficiency increases and consolidation among producers caused employment declines for Pickaway County earlier in the decade. Manufacturing lost more than 2,000 jobs (46.5 percent) between 2001 and 2006, which led to a total loss of nearly 1,900 jobs (11.6 percent) over that period. Unlike most other manufacturing-based economies, though, Pickaway County has enjoyed strong growth more recently. The county gained 100 manufacturing jobs (4.2 percent) between 2006 and 2007, and about 40 more in the first three quarters of 2008. As a result, Pickaway County’s total employment increased 2.7 percent in 2007 – twice the rate of the Columbus region and the U.S. – and declined only marginally in the first three quarters of 2008 relative to the same period of 2007. The earlier employment declines and current recession, however, have led to a May 2009 seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 11.3 percent.
State government is also important, contributing more than 10 percent of employment. There are two sectors that, while still below average in terms of employment share, are growing nicely and becoming far more important: professional and business services and private education and healthcare. Transportation and logistics has declined since 2001, but has a bright future thanks to the recent opening of the Norfolk Southern Intermodal on the county’s northern border, and the completion of the Heartland Corridor rail project next year.
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