Cape Business Trends newsletter May 31, 2007
Summer season outlook
Businesses across the Cape are rejoicing over the outstanding Memorial Day performance, but the holiday weekend underscored the reality that weather is the great determiner. Will Memorial Day be a harbinger for the entire season?
In reality, the next 12 weeks appear slightly hazy. Business should be spotty – based on a wide-ranging set of variables. Higher-end accommodations are in demand; mid-range options are less so. The true bright spot is the international market as the dollar’s value continues to lure visitors and shoppers from Europe and Japan.
“Right now, we’re on sale,” said Wendy Northcross, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, of the currency differences. And unlike traditional visitors from Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, the weekend forecast is not a determining factor.
“International travelers are coming no matter what, since they book in advance, and they stay longer, too,” Northcross notes.
This international demand underscores the need for Cape businesses to pay close attention to their Web strategy. Despite the fact many foreigners will arrive through organized tours, they do their homework on the Web. Getting noticed on Google is critical. And once you have captured their attention here, who knows how much of a relationship you can develop online for the future?
Meanwhile, summer rentals continue to eclipse traditional stays in hotels and motels by about 20 percent. And these summer rentals are being booked much later in the season.
Real estate readings
Turn around, and you encounter yet another statistic about the roiling real estate market. So let’s not focus so much on numbers, and try instead to frame the situation.
The latest national numbers showed April as being a surprisingly harsh month nationwide and throughout the Northeast. Sales and prices were down. Yet April’s numbers for the Cape showed more promise. Prices were down, but that apparently spiked actual sales, which were up 3.6 percent from the year before.
It may be painful for individual sellers to concede on price, but the only way the market can stabilize is to draw down high inventories and acknowledge that the buyer is in control after years of having it the other way.
Cape Business has talked with numerous real estate brokers and agents who mostly report that homes are selling much closer to actual assessments than at any time since the late 1980s and early 1990s. During recent boom years, it was common to see a home sell at about 20 percent above assessed value. Now, homes are selling in many cases at assessed value – or even slightly below.
That not only is a function of the market, but a reflection that towns in the last two years aggressively increased assessed values to finally catch up to the price appreciation between 2000 and 2005. It’s possible they went too far after moving too slowly before that.
Tony Shepley, owner of Shepley Wood Products, has seen the best and worst of times in the real estate market. Despite the current slowdown, Shepley just expanded by opening a facility in Wellfleet. He views current conditions as a necessary correction and is bullish about the long-term market. For a complete story on Shepley’s move to Wellfleet, see our upcoming July/August issue.
The baby boomers are coming
Our recent seminar on Marketing to Baby Boomers attracted 120 attendees. We increased our capacity from an anticipated 90, but regrettably had to turn away nearly 50 others. As a result, we would be happy to reprise the event. If you would like to attend the seminar, please call us at (508) 385-3811 and we will notify you on a first-come, first-served basis when we schedule the next session.
Our July/August Personal Finance publication, Baby Boomers and Their Retirement, has proven so successful that it has expanded from its original focus entirely on personal finance to include topics on recreation, health and fitness. In fact, the demand by Cape businesses within these industries has been so intense that Personal Finance is being retitled Cape Business Health and Wealth. Additionally, we will publish a Health and Wealth services/products directory in the next edition and also launch it online.
All advertisers in the publication receive the print and online directory listing free. Other businesses can purchase the directory listing for $299. An online directory listing lets you post special discounts and incentives – which in turn will be publicized in Cape Business magazine. To learn more, please call us at (508) 385-3811. If you have not advertised in Cape Business before, we would enjoy visiting your business and learning more about you.
East Harwich: A model for the entire Cape
East Harwich can’t stop its rapid-fire development. The question facing community leaders and residents is whether they can design a future that will nourish the best Cape Cod has to offer – or watch helplessly as the area expands in haphazard and counterproductive ways.
The stakes for this Lower Cape crossroads extend far beyond Harwich’s borders.
This community, which radiates from the intersection of routes 39 and 137, is a textbook model for many other towns, from Orleans to Sandwich, that also are trying to reconcile the conflict between smart-growth aspirations and zoning codes that too frequently – and inadvertently – encourage sprawl, loss of affordable workforce housing and disappearance of open space.
In the case of East Harwich, lost opportunities won’t be the result of indifference. Time, money and imagination have formed like a tornado’s funnel around an emerging vision that emphasizes redevelopment over new construction, compact development at the center to preserve green at its edges, and a community that encourages walking at the expense of vehicles and congestion.
Cape Business explores this story in our upcoming July/August edition as part of a special supplement focusing on the town of Harwich. It not only will appear inside the magazine, but also be mailed directly to 5,000 households in town. If your business needs to reach these homes, give us a call soon at (508) 385-3811 – our deadline is next week.
Latest on health insurance
Consumer and business groups continue to clash over the new health-care reform law, with business representatives opposing mandated drug coverage and caps on deductibles and advocacy groups speaking against high-deductible plans and pushing for more generous benefits.
Under the board’s proposed draft regulations, the minimum coverage criteria would cap maximum out-of-pocket spending for in-network services at $5,000 for individual coverage and $10,000 for family coverage and cap annual deductibles at $2,000 for an individual and $4,000 for families.
If there is a separate deductible for drug coverage, the deductible may not exceed $250 for individuals and $500 for family policies. Plans would be required to cover preventive and primary care, emergency services, hospitalization benefits, ambulatory patient services and mental health services.
Regulations do not prohibit federally approved Health Savings Accounts, which have high deductibles, and allow for a cap on lifetime maximum benefits.
Massachusetts residents will start facing financial penalties in January 2008 for not having insurance. Higher penalties will kick in in January 2009, when all plans will have to comply with the minimum criteria of coverage.
Peter Forman, president and CEO of South Shore Chamber of Commerce, said stringent minimum criteria will increase health-care costs to business owners, resulting in a possible cut in the state’s workforce. He also said cost-containments are crucial to ensure the success of the law. “We think if the right decisions aren’t made now then in five years there will be devastating consequences to businesses and to the economy,” said Forman, a former House minority leader.
Will the commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority revise regulations on lifetime maximum caps and prescription drugs? Connector Authority Spokesman Richard Powers said, “We heard some very compelling testimonies over the last several weeks. The board will take all the testimonies into consideration at the June 5 meeting.”
Tax incentives for public transit
With the summer upon us, employers are paying more attention to public transit as a way to get seasonal staff to and from the job. You may be able to take advantage of federal tax incentives. For example, employers may underwrite their employees’ transit or vanpool commuting costs, up to $110. Employers also may allow employees to set aside pre-tax dollars to purchase transit passes. Here are some sources to learn more: MassRIDES Outreach, 1.888.4COMMUTE or www.gocapecod.org/workrides.
Health care on Cape Cod: What’s new?
Our current issue of Cape Business magazine features Steve Abbott, president and chief executive officer of Cape Cod Healthcare, on the cover, and his take on the current condition of health care here. You can hear Abbott speak on the topic next week at SCORE’s 14th annual awards breakfast.
His topic will be “Health Care on Cape Cod – What’s New?” The breakfast will be held at 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 5, at Old Yarmouth Inn, Route 6A, Yarmouth.
SCORE’s annual breakfast also honors the organization’s Small Business Owner of the Year, who is selected from among clients of the non-profit counseling organization. In addition, Build a Better Mousetrap awards are presented to small business owners selected for recognition by their various local chambers of commerce.
Tickets for the breakfast are $20. The public is welcome. To make a reservation or get additional information, telephone Cape Cod SCORE, (508) 775-4884.
The Club at Yarmouthport announces corporate membership
It is no secret that golf and business have always made for a great partnership. The Club at Yarmouthport is offering your company the opportunity to take advantage of this partnership at one of Cape Cod's finest and most challenging executive-length golf courses, while enjoying the amenities a private club has to offer. Benefits include:
* Entrance fees waived
* Up to three principal members per company for $2,500
* $300 dining/beverage at Ardeo restaurant
* Full golf privileges Monday through Sunday including holidays
* Up to seven accompanied guests at one time
* Greens fees including cart, $30 (all players)
* Tee times reserved with 14 days
* Reserved member's room for meetings
* 10 percent merchandise discount to principal members in the pro shop
* Tennis and pool availability
Contact Ellen Guerin, membership director, to take advantage of this terrific offer, at which time she will make available to you a round of golf on us. She can be reached at (508) 833-3772 or (508) 362-5200.
In addition, former Cape Cod resident and member of the LPGA Tour Sally Quinlan is coming back to Cape Cod June 9 &10. Quinlan and her longtime teacher and mentor, Bob Miller, Director of Golf at The Club at Yarmouthport, will be offering free golf clinics at The Club. Also, on Monday, June 11, Quinlan and Miller will be conducting a one time special golf school. There will be limited enrollment. Further information about the golf school and other events can be obtained by calling The Club at Yarmouthport pro shop at 508-362-8870.
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