A shallow recession, a shortage of workers and uncertainty of the economy at the federal level will cause the Muskegon County economy to slow down over the course of the next year. Those were the major themes as the Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce hosted the annual Muskegon County Economic Forecast Friday morning in Spring Lake.
Dr. Paul Isely, of the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University presented the forecast. He says, while Muskegon will weather the recession, the real concern is that the city of Muskegon is growing almost too fast, and there simply isn’t enough skilled workers to meet the demand.
“Well right now, talent is the big drag on the growth in Muskegon,” Isley said. “So as we looked at things across this last year, it was that lack of talent that lack of people wanting to work (in Muskegon) that really constrained the growth that we saw.”
The solution, Isley said, is to find a way to attract more people to the area and convince outsiders that Muskegon is a desirable place to live and work.
Responsible for that narrative has been the Watch Muskegon campaign and the Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce, who are largely behind the transformation that the downtown corridor has undergone over the past two years.
While a brand recognition study recently found that the Watch Muskegon campaign has resonated with locals, Chamber President Cindy Larsen says they still have work to do in regards to spreading the message that Muskegon is open for business beyond county lines.
“Yes, the campaign has had tremendous success locally, but now we need to focus on our neighbors in Kent and Ottawa County,” Larsen said. “So that will be our focus in 2019…how this is a great place not only to live but to work as well.”