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Lakes area firms making layoffs Brainerd Dispatch made 10 layoffs City Editor The Brainerd lakes area is not immune to the nationwide recession.
Declining revenue streams contribute to Minnesota's bleak budget forecast.
One factor contributing to the loss in revenue is a drop in state income tax collections, in part because of layoffs throughout the state.
Area schools, namely the Brainerd School District and the Crosby-Ironton School District, dealt with layoffs earlier this year. More than 80 employees were laid off in the Brainerd School District.
In Minnesota, layoffs are now spreading to other industries, including automobile dealerships, construction firms and the media.
This week alone communications companies, including the Star Tribune, WCCO Radio, St. Cloud Times - as well as the Brainerd Dispatch - announced layoffs or budget cuts. The Dispatch made 10 layoffs Tuesday.
"Anyone who has followed the news over the last few months knows that media companies have been hit as hard as any by the economic downturn," said Terry McCollough, Dispatch publisher. "The Dispatch certainly isn't immune. We cut every expense we could think of but still had to reduce our work force. They were all great people, good employees and we hated to see them go."
In his first 35 years in business in Brainerd, John Tanner, owner of Tanner Companies, never had to lay off an employee.
That's changed.
Over the past two years, he estimates he's had to lay off 40-50 employees. "And we're not the only ones," Tanner said.
Tanner said automobile dealerships throughout the country are running out of working capital because funds are being drained by the manufacturers.
He said automobile dealerships are streamlining and reducing staff numbers to meet cash flow.
Even though right now is the best time to buy a vehicle, many consumers don't want to make expenditures, Tanner said.
And it's not for lack of quality in American vehicles, he added. "It's smart. Buy American."
Tanner disagrees with the posturing of politicians in Washington. He said no plan was asked of Wall Street in regard to a financial bailout and management wasn't asked to reduce pay.
The auto industry, the backbone of U.S. manufacturing, is being asked to jump through all kinds of hoops not asked of Wall Street, Tanner said.
He sees the $34 billion auto loan proposal as a step in the right direction in an effort to turn this economy around.
Craig Feierabend, an owner of Hy-Tec Construction in Brainerd, said his company also made recent layoffs.
"Typically, this time of year, we have a minor layoff," Feierabend said. "It was a little bit earlier and a little more than minor this time. We've had a pretty good year all in all."
As a commercial contractor, Feierabend said he is optimistic for the future.
"We think there's going to be more government money to come," he said. "It's not a lot of doom and gloom around here."
Feierabend said though he'd hate to be starting a business today. Hy-Tec has a solid base of customers, especially return customers, he said.
"It's helped us pull through these tough times," Feierabend said. "These layoffs are temporary. We know that we are going to be going strong again in the spring or sooner."
Not all industries have been affected to the same degree by the downturn in the economy.
Brainerd Medical Center and St. Joseph's Medical Center see fluctuations in patient numbers at the clinic and the hospital.
Through flexibility in scheduling of full-time and part-time employees, the medical centers have avoided layoffs and are able to increase staffing busy periods and decrease employee hours during less busy times.
"We hire a combination of full-time and part-time employees to meet both the upturns and downturns in our volume," said Dale Benson, vice president of human resources, planning and marketing for Brainerd Lakes Health.
Currently, the facilities are not "flexing up" employee hours.
Benson said it's hard right now to guess what the future will bring.
"I can't predict," Benson said. "We'll have to see how the economy plays out. Right now, we've been able to make the necessary steps to where our operations can continue on where they're at."
Craig Nathan, Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program area operations manager, said there has been a spike in the number of people walking through the doors of rural Minnesota WorkForce Centers, which are operated jointly by Rural Minnesota CEP and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
"It's changed dramatically here in the past month to six weeks," Nathan said of people using WorkForce Centers in north-central Minnesota.
And he said he is seeing more people from industries that do not traditionally lay off people, including more retail businesses - a business sector usually strong in the Brainerd lakes area.
Resources are available at the Brainerd WorkForce Center, at 204 Laurel St., Suite 21, in Brainerd. Assistance is provided to help people search job banks or build a resume. In addition, there are funds available for retraining for those who qualify as well as funds available to assist in the job search process.
"We are anticipating an even higher number of people who are looking for work," Nathan said.
Additional staff is being added at the WorkForce Centers to address an anticipated rise in unemployment rates.
"The anticipation is rates will rise - how much we don't know," Nathan said. "Certainly, higher than what we're seeing now."
Additional information about the Brainerd WorkForce Center is available at 828-2450 or (800) 664-3595.
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