Cape Business Trends newsletter April 4, 2007
The new Cape CodTalk to some businesses, and they feel under siege. Talk to others, and they see only new opportunities.
Change is not easy, but change is what we all face across Cape Cod. Old customers are disappearing; new ones are arriving. Technology threatens the status quo, but opens up new horizons.
Cape Business is partnering with business consultant Barry Neagle and NeuEon’s Peter Karlson to provide you with a rapid-fire tour of what we call “The New Cape Cod.”
We will introduce you to a series of “aha moments” – dramatic changes to the landscape. Neagle will suggest some steps you can take – regardless of your business’ size – to not only cope, but prosper amid these transformative trends. Karlson will introduce you to several technology tactics you can employ to further benefit from the new realities.
Our first report will be featured in the July/August edition of Cape Business. If you would like to participate in a series of conversations at the Cape Business office in Dennis about our changing landscape, please e-mail glenn@capebusiness.net.
The changing town of Harwich
Speaking of new, Harwich is among the fastest-changing communities on the Cape. Consider that between 2005 and 2010, its population will be increasing by 5.6 percent, while the number of households should increase more than 8 percent, according to our consultant, Warren Rutherford of Rutherford Advisors and MapInfo. That number is particularly impressive since overall growth across Massachusetts is declining.
If projections prove true, consider these trends that businesses and taxpayers in Harwich must consider: the number of elementary schoolchildren will drop, but high-school-aged children will rise; residents between 20 and 30 are arriving in larger numbers, but their counterparts between 30 and 40 are leaving. Among the fastest-growing age groups? The youngest baby boomers, who are coming here to redefine their lives, though not retire.
Cape Business is proud to partner with the Harwich Chamber of Commerce to publish Harwich: The Town That Has It All, which will appear in our July/August edition and will also be mailed to 5,000 households across the town. To learn more about this publication and to advertise, please call Bob Viamari at (508) 385-3811.
Employment picture
The latest employment numbers suggest some erosion for Cape Cod. In February 2006, the jobless rate across the Cape stood at 7.1 percent; a year later, it has risen to 7.9 percent. That translates to a very slight drop in the number of people in the Cape workforce and a slight increase in the number of people actually out of work.
Other counties have experienced a similar trend, but with some exceptions. Plymouth County’s jobless rate is up as well over the last year, but its workforce is growing and the actual number of unemployed residents is less than a year ago.
Where are the jobs? The state reports that the best industries to find work are in professional and business services including accounting, bookkeeping, architecture and engineering.
State of the state: Sales taxes soft
While individual income and business tax collections in March were “healthy,” according to the state revenue commissioner, shooting up 8.7 percent over March 2006 collections, sales tax receipts were soft. That is a tell-tale sign that auto sales and the housing market are hurting.
With three quarters of fiscal 2007 complete, tax receipts for the fiscal year are running 5.5 percent ahead of the comparable period in fiscal 2006. During March, when a total of $1.768 billion was collected from state taxpayers, income tax receipts were up 10.4 percent, withholding taxes were up 7.6 percent, and corporate and business tax collections were up 12.4 percent.
On the downside, especially for school construction and MBTA efforts that depend on such taxes, sales and use tax receipts last month were down 1 percent from March 2006, a trend that Revenue Commissioner Alan LeBovidge said is tied to “softness” in motor vehicle sales and collections associated with housing market industries. Over the first nine months of the fiscal year, sales and use tax collections are up 1.8 percent.
Marketing to the baby boom generation
Save the date – Friday, April 27 – for a special breakfast seminar on Marketing to the Baby Boom Generation. Join Cape Business and Osterville-based CPA Kathey Hickey Fulham for an informative seminar beginning at 7:30 a.m. If you would like your business to help sponsor the breakfast, please call Glenn at (508) 385-3811 by Friday. To reserve a seat at this breakfast, please call Sara at the same number.
Cape Business will follow up this seminar with its July/August Personal Finance publication, Baby Boomers and Their Retirement. Here are some issues to consider as you plan your baby boomer marketing: 57 percent of 60-year-olds travel often; 45 percent save aggressively for retirement; 47 percent do volunteer work; 30 percent plan to move; 18 percent plan to move to a smaller home; 32 percent make purchases online; and most plan for in-home care as they age.
Developments
The second major shopping center owner is selling out across the Cape. Only weeks after the Tedeschi Realty Corporation announced it will sell its shopping centers at Skaket Corners, Orleans; Star Market Plazas in Harwich and Hyannis; and the Stop & Shop Plaza in Sandwich, Tom Flatley has sold two centers here to Boston-based Wilder Cos. and New York-based O’Connor Capital Partners. Flatley’s properties are the Falmouth Mall and the Southwind Plaza off Route 132 in Hyannis. Reports indicated he received about $500 million for 11 shopping centers across New England.
Insurance rates
The Massachusetts FAIR Plan has requested a 25 percent homeowners’ insurance rate increase for Cape Cod residents, part of an overall statewide filing seeking a 13.6 percent average rate increase statewide. FAIR Plan, which provides coverage to homeowners unable to secure insurance in the private market, currently insures more than 130,000 households, including one out of every three homeowners on the Cape. This would be the second 25 percent increase in two years.
This latest proposed overall rate requests are 13.2 percent for Homeowners Multi-Peril Insurance and 8 percent for Dwelling Fire and Extended Coverage. There is no increase requested for Commercial Fire and Allied Lines. The proposed effective date for the new rates is July 1. The state attorney general will fight the increase, but the office is still objecting to the first 25 percent rise. The Division of Insurance plans a hearing at 10 a.m. on April 27 at its office on the 5th Floor, One South Station, Boston, to consider the FAIR Plan filing.
A moment to brag
We rarely report on ourselves, but we are very proud of a recent acknowledgement by the Small Business Administration. Cape Business has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2007 Massachusetts Small Business Journalists of the year. We were nominated by the Cape Cod & Islands’ chapter of SCORE. “Journalists are so important to the cause of small business,” said SBA’s Maurice Dubé, “and Cape Business magazine’s work has contributed to increased knowledge about the role small business plays in the Cape Cod economy.” We thank the SBA and SCORE for their recognition.
To read more, click here.
Hone your business skills
The Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce continues its series of intimate how-to sessions for business owners and managers.
Tuesday, April 10 - Protecting Your Data: An interactive session on how to ensure that your valuable company data is protected from viruses, disaster, hackers and more. Session will include question-and-answer time to help tailor to your specific company needs. Kevin MacArthur, Secure Networks and Peter Karlson, NeuEon
Thursday, April 12 - Marketing your Business with Technology: Learn how to market your business using technology, such as your Web site, e-mail, e-newsletters and collection of customer data. Julie Brooks, eCape.com
Tuesday, April 24 - QuickBooks Training: Need help learning the ins and outs of QuickBooks? Let an expert guide you through the ways you can make QuickBooks work to your advantage. Frank Guinan, Integrity Business Solutions
All sessions are held at the TD Banknorth Wealth Management Building, 495 Station Avenue, South Yarmouth between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. To RSVP, e-mail Yarmouth Chamber Executive Director Bob Dubois at yarmouth@capecod.net.
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