Corvallis Local Economy

At a glance:
Who: Corvallis Business'
What: Corvallis local economy
Where: Corvallis, Oregon
When: As of October 6Th, 2009
Why: Interesting to the people that live here.
How to get involved: Shop locally, go to local events, and go out every once in a while to keep business flow going.

In the past several years, the nation’s economy has plummeted and everyone has taken a hit. The struggles that Corvallis has faced in this economic slump may not be seen by some people that live here. We have all seen many local businesses, like Fox and Firkin, Michael's Landing, The Gables, and Urban Minx Boutique have all been forced to close because business flow wasn’t enough to meet demands. There are many reasons that play into why businesses either succeed here or they don't. They have to have enough customer pull to get the local people when a majority of the students go away during school breaks and the summer. The audience that companies are trying to attract have to be focused on the locals and the realistic needs of the town.

Hewlett-Packard is one of the major players in the town's economy and has suffered job reductions numerous times in the past year. What's left of the once vibrant HP FAB has felt a crumbling blow. “Everyday HP gets closer to discovering a more efficient method to produce the special microchips that are produced in our FAB, bringing the life of our FAB to a complete halt,” Eddie Hanson an engineer from Hewlett Packard informed me. This means hundreds of people will be out of work due to their jobs being shipped overseas for cost reduction. When this happens, Corvallis will experience unemployment like never before.

Another huge contributor to the local economy is Oregon State University. Having a university in Corvallis adds value to our town because it gives people a reason to come here. According to OSU website, enrollment has jumped 8 percent since last school year. This means that since more students are in town their parents will come to visit them, take them out to dinner, buy them things they need, and just gets people out on the town. This means more business for the local businesses.

"There are two different reasons people come to Corvallis to live: The first reason is because they see it as a place to get an education, grow as a person, and to party. The second reason people come here is to settle down and start raising a family." OSU student Jaci Bullis said. The two far end of the spectrum cause ample opportunity to have businesses. In this economic time people cant be opening businesses that don't apply to the people who live in the town. According to economy.com, the cost of living in Corvallis is much higher than that of the United States. Luckily not all of Corvallis has taken a hit, head chefs of Aqua and Terzo Restaurants,Adam Kekahuna and chef Iain Duncan, are opening a new restaurants this fall in Corvallis. It is named Flat Tail and it is going to be an upscale pub. This is good news for Corvallis this means that we have been able to survive and not fall to bad into the recession.

Photo source: http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/cb80fea2-798c-4b3f-a7a1-7de17a35d7f8.jpg