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Almanac
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Business New Haven
8/10/98
By: BNH
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Where the Jobs Are:
A UConn economics professor has assembled strong evidence that urban African-Americans are 30 percent less likely than their white counterparts to take jobs that require relocation. An article by Stephen Ross published in the Journal of Urban Economics reveals that only 3.5 percent of African-American residents in metropolitan areas both change jobs and move in the same year, compared to an average of five percent in the rest of the population. “A 1.5 percent difference may not seem like very much, but racial segregation which is at the root of the problem has persisted for decades. Over time, small annual differences can accumulate into big numbers.” As jobs have migrated from central cities to suburbs across the U.S., housing discrimination and the lack of integrated neighborhoods have played a role in discouraging qualified minority workers from making the move.
Oh, Woe Is Them:
The economic crisis gripping Asian markets has actually had a positive effect on the Connecticut economy thus far due to resulting lower interest rates and oil prices. So says People's Bank Chief Economist Todd P. Martin, who nevertheless warns that a slowdown in export growth and a squeeze on profit margins may in time cloud the heretofore rosy picture. “The continuing Asian situation means the Federal Reserve won't be tightening credit conditions any time soon,” Martin says. “This means that long-term interest rates will remain low, or move even lower. Since Connecticut's residents tend to own more financial assets and carry higher debt levels than the rest of the country, lower interest rates means their investment portfolios have increased in value at the same time their mortgage payments have decreased.
Another Compelling Argument for School Uniforms:
Parents and teenagers will spend an average of $408 on back-to-school items this year nationwide, according to the American Express Retail Index. Here in the Northeast, however, where we care less about such ephemeral concerns as fashion, that figure is expected to be only $379, a six-percent decrease over last year. Not surprisingly, apparel tops the back-to-school shopping list both here and throughout the nation, with 93 percent of shoppers planning apparel purchases. Brand names are of course key to peer-pressured pubescents, and the top five brands of choice among apparel are Tommy Hilfiger (named by 38 percent of students as their top choice), followed by Levi's (27 percent, and slipping), the Gap (20 percent), Polo/Ralph Lauren (19 percent) and Calvin Klein (17 percent).
Entrepreneurship 101:
Thought about starting your own business, but don't know where to begin? Taken the leap but need help staying competitive? This fall, New Haven's Gateway Community-Technical College will offer and associate degree and certificate program for would-be or existing entrepreneurs. And there are plenty of them: In 1996, 97.7 percent of all 92,941 businesses in Connecticut were by definition “small” (fewer than 500 employees). The college's Entrepreneurial Studies program, which will teach students how to prepare a comprehensive business plan that will become a road map for their business, begins August 31. For particulars, call 203-789-7043.
Speaking of Gateway...:
After scarcely two years on the job, Gateway President Diana Van der Ploeg, a Connecticut native, is returning to her adopted state of Colorado to do consulting work. Van der Ploeg, who arrived to find herself at the center of a controversy over her hiring, was never fully accepted by members of the Gateway community who had favored the hiring of a local candidate. Van der Ploeg is said to have become disgusted over the petty politicking and, some would say, race-baiting that proved a distraction throughout her brief tenure. The search for a successor will begin apace.
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