Employment | Capital Analytics Associates

Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate back to single digits

By: Felipe Rivas

2 min read September 2020 — Recovery efforts in Palm Beach County are trending in the right direction toward Q4. Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate is back to single digits, according to newly released data. The county’s jobless rate fell from 11.5% in July to 8% in August, according to the latest monthly reports released by CareerSource Palm Beach County and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

The state of Florida posted a 7.4% unemployment rate, according to the report. Both Palm Beach County and the state unemployment rate sit below the national average of 8.5%.

The county’s nonagricultural employment increased to more than 580,000 in August compared to 570,800 in July. The labor force in the county increased to more than 698,000, according to the report. The figure indicates there were more people employed, or looking for work, in August than in July. Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate sits lower than other parts of Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Orange counties. These are highly touristic areas that continue to suffer from the aftermath of travel restrictions and overall pandemic-related challenges to the travel and hospitality industries.

“The unemployment rate’s return to the single digits, Phase 2 reopenings and an uptick in hiring for the tourist season suggest that recovery is gaining some traction,” said CareerSource Palm Beach County Interim President and CEO Julia Dattolo in a press release.

The county’s Phase 2 plan may have played a large role in the August unemployment decrease as businesses prepared for a post-Labor Day reopening process. The majority of Palm Beach County industries were allowed to reopen following Labor Day weekend after Gov. Ron DeSantis agreed to the easing of coronavirus-related business restrictions.The county now sits in Phase 2 of its multistep reopening plan, which allowed movie theaters, bowling alleys, playhouses and other entertainment venues to reopen.

Statewide, Florida’s labor force increased 1.4% month over month, or about 143,000 Floridians entering the workforce since July, according to the report. In comparison, Florida lost more than 1,178,000 jobs from February to April and has since gained back over half of the lost employment, the report pointed out.

“Florida’s job creators have faced significant challenges this year, forcing many of them to make difficult strategic decisions; however, August’s employment data reflects their commitment to Florida families,” said Dane Eagle, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Florida businesses gained 46,000 private-sector jobs over the month while the private-sector job creation on-year rate of decline of 5.8% was less than the national over-the-year decline of 7.4%, according to the report.

For more information, visit:

CareerSource PBC

Florida Jobs

Survey highlights Camden’s economic progress

By: Yolanda Rivas

2 min read January 2020 — What once was the poorest city in the nation is now showing significant advances as a result of its renaissance efforts. Camden City is showing positive trends in key economic areas, according to a recent survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, using data derived from the American Community Survey (ACS).

The survey data showed significant improvements in areas such as poverty, educational attainment, employment and unemployment.

“Change doesn’t happen overnight, but in findings like these we are seeing the very real snowballing effect of progressive policies put into place to better the lives of residents in the City,” said Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr in a press release.

The surge in educational attainment among 18-24-year olds is one of the significant trends Camden has seen during the last decade. The most recent estimate shows the population achieving high school or higher levels of education is now at 83.3 percent. From 2006 to 2010, approximately 68 percent of young adults in the city had graduated high school, earned their G.E.D., attended some college, or received an associate’s, bachelor’s or advanced degree.

“Ensuring all of our students and families are attaining a quality education and gaining access to advanced educational opportunities is our objective. This report underscores the progress being made in the classroom and throughout our district,” Superintendent Katrina McCombs said in a press release.

The survey also showed that the number of residents employed has increased by more than 2,500 and the number of unemployed residents dropped from over 7,700 to less than 3,900. According to city data, the unemployment rate over the five years ending in 2018 was 12.6%, which represents a big decline from the 24.4 percent reported from 2009 to 2013.

Camden’s “eds and meds” sector, which employs almost 40% of the Camden workforce, has also been key to the city’s revitalization. Over $1 billion has been invested in the “eds and meds” sector, with an additional $175 million planned. Camden is home to five eds and meds institutions, leading research and innovative efforts throughout the region and the national and international community.

To support local businesses and residents, workforce initiatives like private initiative Camden Works, launched in 2019, have been forged to ensure Camden continues its growth path. The employment training and placement program is designed to leverage resources from local entities to provide training, education and placement.

“Unparalleled collaboration and a holistic approach to revitalization is resulting in real progress in Camden,” said Camden Mayor Francisco Moran in a press release. “The data indicates that Camden is making substantial gains as it relates to reducing poverty, improving academic outcomes and increasing employment prospects. This kind of sustained progress has not been witnessed in decades. These are all positive signs for our residents and indicators that the quality of life continues to improve.”

The ACS produces estimates of selected population characteristics for one- and five-year periods. Five-year estimates include data aggregated over a 60-month period and attempt to show the characteristics of the city over that entire stretch.

To learn more, visit:

https://data.census.gov

Philly Leads in ‘Taking Care of Business’

By: Sara Warden

In NBC’s 2019 ranking of Top States for Business, Pennsylvania landed a lacklustre 28th position – lower than half way down the poll for business friendliness in the country. The state was in 39th place in terms of economy, 32nd in quality of life and 31st in workforce. But there is potential. The state ranked ninth in terms of education and sixth in access to capital. The Philadelphia authorities are grabbing onto these roots and nurturing them into shoots with the new PHL Taking Care of Business Initiative.

“This new investment will have a big impact on neighborhoods all across our city by providing businesses and neighborhoods beyond Center City with the resources they need to succeed and to thrive,” Mayor Jim Kenney said to the Philadelphia Tribune. “Reducing blight not only makes our city more beautiful but it helps small businesses — especially minority and women-owned businesses — attract shoppers and employees. When small businesses succeed, our economy grows stronger.”

The program was pioneered by city Councilwoman Cherelle Parker, with the goal of reducing blight while creating 300 jobs for local residents – that’s 30 part-time employees in each district who are paid $15 per hour. “We are committed to building a strong workforce and job market that will in turn help us attack poverty and crime to ensure inclusive growth across the city,” added Kenney.

But rather than making the employees public servants, they will instead be Cleaning Ambassadors, paid by the Commerce Department to Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), which will issue RFPs and/or contract with CDCs. “This program will pay workers a living wage and introduce them to workforce training that can lead to other professional opportunities and jobs. I strongly support PHL Taking Care of Business,” said Council President Darrell Clarke in a press release.

For initial costs related to the program, the city has now pledged $10 million to fund the initiative, which is a way to attract new business, improve conditions for existing companies and improve quality of life. “Strengthening our commercial corridors, which are the lifeblood of communities throughout my district and across the city, is essential to stabilizing our neighborhoods,” said Councilwoman Parker in a press release. “PHL Taking Care of Business will help ensure that every business corridor in the city, regardless of size or neighborhood, will be clean and attractive, allowing the businesses to focus more time on growing their enterprise. It will also help to change that awful characterization of our city as ‘Filthadelphia.’”

Several local business owners that are already part of the program’s pilot catchment area are delighted with the results. “Living on a busy street with lots of businesses, you always see trash on the street. Ever since the 9th District street cleaning team started, you definitely see a difference. I believe neighbors see the difference too. People walk around prouder and are more likely to speak up when they see people throwing trash on the ground,” said local resident Frank Huynh.

To learn more, visit:

https://kenneyforphiladelphia.com/

http://phlcouncil.com/darrellclarke/

http://phlcouncil.com/cherelleparker/

ATLNext Targets New Heights

By Sara Warden

2 min read SEPTEMBER 2019 For the 21st consecutive year, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport was named the world’s busiest airport this month. With passenger traffic of over 107 million in 2018, the airport continues to serve as a major economic driver of the city. Capital Analytics took a closer look at the characteristics that make the airport the world’s transport hub.

ATL is the state of Georgia’s largest employer, generating 63,000 direct on-site jobs and creating an estimated $34.8 billion economic impact for Metro Atlanta – or almost 7% of total state GDP. The 47,000-acre Hartsfield-Jackson facility has 263 concessions, 193 gates, seven concourses, five runways and the tallest control tower in North America, coming in at 121m.

“It’s a complex operation,” Airport General Manager John Selden told How Stuff Works. “One little piece going astray can cause massive chain-reaction ramifications. To keep the complexity of this operation running smoothly, it takes a village.”

But to keep operations running smoothly, the airport must constantly keep up with growing passenger numbers through more and more expansions. “As you look at passenger flow over time, it’s always trying to eliminate the bottleneck,” Tom Nissalke, the airport’s assistant general manager of planning told How Stuff Works. “Sometimes, when you fix one bottleneck then it’s another bottleneck somewhere else.”

In 2016, the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport unveiled ATLNext, a $6 billion capital investment in the continuous expansion of existing infrastructure. By 2022, a total of $1.9 billion is to be invested in the modernization of the central passenger terminal, which will include aesthetic renovations that involve landscaping and lighting, as well as the extension of Concourse T to add five new gates and the addition of 10 new gates to Concourse G.

To accommodate growing air traffic, $1.3 billion will be invested in airfield upgrades that include a sixth runway, slated to be completed by 2034. Investments in auxiliary services such as parking and a mixed-use hotel and office space development are also planned. Air cargo facility upgrades will come in at around $200 million.

“The infrastructure has to keep up with the growth,” Selden said to Reporter Newspapers. “We cannot turn into [New York’s secondary airport] LaGuardia. My goal and my team’s goal is to do everything we can to work with everybody that we need to [in order to] ensure that Hartsfield-Jackson is not a limiting factor on the growth of the Atlanta region.”

The investment is a joint venture between the public and private sector. A consortium of three companies – CH2M Hill (since acquired by Jacobs), RohadFox and Parsons Transportation Group – won the contract to carry out the ambitious expansion. Overall, PPPs are an innovative idea in airport projects, but could be the future, allowing the public sector to free up funds for other priorities. “I think we’ll see other examples where other companies get involved. And gradually, familiarity builds, and it won’t seem outlandish at some later date when the subject of the whole airport comes up,” said Robert Poole, director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation, in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

http://next.atl.com/

https://reason.org/

http://www.rohadfox.com/

http://www.jacobs.com/

https://www.parsonsgroup.co.uk/

Big Banks’ Long-Term Investment Vision for Charlotte

Writer: Sara Warden

2 min read AUGUST 2019 — Charlotte has long been the eastern hub of Bank of America (BofA) and is one of the headquarters of Wells Fargo. But this year it has been attracting attention from the third bank belonging to the Big Four, which together hold around 45% of total U.S. deposits. JP Morgan Chase announced earlier this year that it will add up to 21 branches in Charlotte in the next three years.

“We’ve been serving the Carolinas for more than a decade and opening branches allows us to lend to more consumers and small businesses, and offer good paying jobs,” Thasunda Duckett, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, said in a press release.

JP Morgan Chase will be entering a market where many are seeing huge potential. In April this year, U.S. Bank announced it will open 10 branches in the city by 2020. The bank, which emerged from the $66 billion merger between BB&T and SunTrust, will also be headquartered in Charlotte.

Despite Wells Fargo and BofA controlling around 89% of the area’s deposits, the new entrants seem confident there will be a big enough piece of the pie for them to get their teeth into. “This expansion marks a major milestone for our firm by allowing us to serve more customers, small businesses and communities across the country,” said Duckett. “To us, this is so much more than building branches. This is about new customer relationships, better access to credit and local jobs.”

Charlotte is home to 425 corporate headquarters in the finance industry. At 2.5%, the city has the lowest corporate tax rate in the country. For three years consecutively, North Carolina’s annual residential growth has exceeded 100,000 people.

“I don’t think there’s any industry that’s having an easy time staffing with the kind of human capital that they need, so one of North Carolina’s biggest advantages right now continues to be population growth,” says Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina told WeWork publication FiveThirtyEight.

Charlotte’s finance industry is the second-largest banking hub in the country behind only New York City, with banks holding more than $2.3 trillion in assets. The city has added more than 200,000 jobs since 2001.

“We’ve built a great city that helps companies attract and retain today’s best talent,” Frances West, business recruitment and retention leader in Charlotte’s Economic Development Office, said to FiveThirtyEight. “Where we are today is not by happenstance and where we will be in 10 years is not by happenstance — it’s all by intentional growth.”

And the financial institutes have Charlotte in their crosshairs for the long run. U.S. Bank announced it reached an agreement with the city’s authorities this month to be the lead sponsor of a delayed pedestrian bridge project that connects Charlotte’s uptown and South End. U.S. Bank will contribute $1 million to the $11 million infrastructure project.

“Bridging the gap between uptown and South End will provide additional connectivity for residents, workers and guests, while further knitting together two of our great urban neighborhoods,” Michael J. Smith, CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners, said in a press release.

To learn more about the companies mentioned, visit:

https://www.charlottecentercity.org/

https://charlotteregion.com/eco-dev/charlotte-regional-business-allianceeconomic-development/

https://edpnc.com/

Spotlight on: William Burns, Tax Office Managing Partner, BDO

By Yolanda Rivas

2 min read JULY 2019 — Accountants and financial professionals play an important role in the global economy and business model, taking on an array of roles within organizations in all industries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow 10 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations.

Accountants can bring a significant perspective of the economy and industries growth. Our ‘Spotlight on’ for this week brings a perspective of what are the industries looking for in regards to advisory and how the local accounting companies impact the labor pool.

BDO offers a wide range of services including advisory, audit/assurance and tax services. Which are most in demand in Philadelphia?

The core services that we provide in Philadelphia are audit and tax, which is where we are seeing the most demand. Our recent acquisition of AC Lordi will allow us to bolster what we can do regarding advisory and scale us up to the next level. We have seen an increase in demand for our services from healthcare, life sciences, and manufacturing and distribution. In addition, we have seen an influx of people reaching out for advice regarding maximizing the benefits of tax reform. We expect to see an increased demand for advisory services related to tax reform, especially surrounding Opportunity Zones.

What are BDO’s efforts to recruit talent from the local pool?

Six years ago, BDO merged a select group of geographically close practices, retiring a number of partners and ushering in a new class. We now find ourselves in a position where we can grow exponentially in one of the largest markets in the country. Our focus on targeted growth means we are constantly adding talent as we look to expanding our tax specialties.

There is always a hunt for qualified talent. To combat that, we try to over-hire at the entry level. Turnover in our industry is relatively high and by attracting more students at the front end we have more opportunity to offer them higher positions when people decide to leave. We have partnerships with local universities and we recruit on a regional and national level. We also have a program to identify and attract students to the region from all over the nation.

What Impact does technology have on the accounting and financial sectors?

Technology has a huge impact on how we operate, since most of what we do is software driven. Data analytics is making us more efficient and many firms are using it as a tool within their audit and tax practices. Those firms that aren’t focused on using and developing technology are going to lag behind.

To learn more about our interviewee, visit:

https://www.bdo.com/about/us-locations/philadelphia-office