Small towns and the economic recession

Later today we expect to hear new national unemployment data which should offer economists a reasonable idea of where our economy is moving on a macro scale. But what about the smaller economic engines of America? How about the small towns in our country that may be largely sustained by a single industry or plant? Even if the economy, as a whole, were to make an unexpected recovery, that wouldn’t bring back the single manufacturing plant that sustained some ten percent of its nearby residents, or the auxiliary economy that springs up around it like housing, restaurants, or shopping centers.

In this small town economic roundtable, we speak with Jay McLaughlin, the Chair of Glenwood’s Community Council; Mayor Paul Grenier, from his town Berlin, New Hampshire; and finally Mayor Jack Scoville, of Georgetown, South Carolina. Together in this conversation, these town leaders paint a picture of small town America’s economic woes, hopes and recovery plans.