What are the facts on jobs in Christiansburg?

Hey! Did I hear someone talking about jobs in Christiansburg? Oh, kewl, I know just the source of data for some good information on that. The Census Bureau – Economic Census. The site provides information by zip code so I can use 24073. That may cover a little bit more area than the Christiansburg Town limits, but what the heck that should just make things look better, right?

This data is what will show us how well economic development and jobs creation has been handled in the Town of Christiansburg. So here we go with the data from 1998 through 2007. (Sorry, but that is the most recent on the site.)

I could bore you to death with more of these charts as the businesses are grouped by the number of employees:

Suffice it to say that:

• from 1998 through 2007 there was a net gain of 200 businesses overall
• 92 of those businesses employee from 1 to 4 employees
• 33 of those businesses employee from 5 to 9 employees
• 39 of those businesses employee from 10 to 19 employees
• 27 of those businesses employee from 20 to 49 employees
• 6 of those businesses employee from 50 to 99 employees
• 0 of those businesses employee from 100 to 249 employees
• 2 of those businesses employee from 250 to 499 employees
• 1 of those businesses employee from 500 to 999 employees
• **don’t even bother to look at those with 1000 or over, they appear and then disappear almost instantly

Overall maybe this doesn’t look so bad. It clearly shows that small businesses are crucial to our local economy. Or does it? What types of jobs were created? Unfortunately, the data available for the answer to that question is restricted to 2007, 2006, and 2005.

2007  Types of businesses (Top 5 – 600 of the total 891 businesses)

• Retail trade – 213 businesses
• Health care and social assistance – 105 businesses
• Construction – 102 businesses
• Other services (except public admin.) – 97
• Accommodation & food services – 83 Businesses

2006 Types of businesses (Top 5 – 562 of a total 840 businesses)

• Retail trade – 199 businesses
• Health care and social assistance – 100 businesses
• Construction – 93 businesses
• Other services (except public administration) – 90 businesses
• Accommodation & food services – 80 businesses

2005 Types of businesses (Top 5 – 532 of a total of 798 businesses)

• Retail trade – 196 businesses
• Health care & social assistance – 90 businesses
• Other services (except public administration) – 87 businesses
• Construction – 83 businesses
• Accommodation & food services – 76

Interesting pattern don’t ya think?

What exactly do you think the average earnings are for those working for these companies? Is there any question why people might be willing to live here but are commuting to other areas for work? Is it any wonder to see that our youth are leaving the area and not coming back except to visit? Gotta wonder what how much energy has been put into simply creating jobs in fields that create tax revenue for the Town and not personal revenue/income for the citizens.

Oh yeah! Exactly what we need, more jobs of the low paying, part-time type. NOT!! It is time for somebody to get off the stick and start doing some serious work. Sitting back and waiting for the Blacksburg, Montgomery County, or the State of Virginia to simply hand out bundles of jobs just will not cut it any more. If you want to catch the jobs, the new businesses, you have to work for it.

Oh yeah! Don’t forget to vote on May 4th at the Armory.