Mass. Economy Sees Growth: Businesses Break Ground, Add Jobs
BOSTON (CBS) - With the markets in turmoil, there are signs of growth here in Massachusetts.
On Friday, Horizon Beverages hosted a groundbreaking at its new headquarters in Norton and announced it is adding 35 new jobs.
Horizon purchased the vacant former GM warehouse and plans to renovate and expand at the sight. They are spending $43 million to build the 555,000 square foot facility.
WBZ-TV's Karen Anderson reports
Vice President Michael Epstein says the key to Horizon Beverage's success has been hiring good people. He says Massachusetts provides a talented and educated workforce, which stands out across the country.
"We're very excited," said Epstein. "This is a great moment for the Horizon Beverage Company and the town of Norton."
He feels confident in their plan, despite the current market turmoil.
"Growth has to be done responsibly and somewhat conservatively, but at the same time if you lay back and don't go after the opportunities presented, I don't think you do your company any service in the long term," he explained. "We're not looking just six months to a year down the road; we're looking five to ten years down the road. And that's why we're able to take on a project of this scale at this time and do so confidently."
Epstein also says Massachusetts is a great place to find talented employees.
"You have an incredible talented pool of people in this area, unlike anywhere else in the country. And that makes a big difference in the success of any enterprise, is what kind of people you have to work there. And I think there is no better place to find those people than right here in Massachusetts," he added.
How so? "They're better educated, they're motivated. ... As far as a talented, motivated workforce, it would be hard pressed to find a place better than Massachusetts," said Epstein.
Horizon Beverages move comes with state and local incentives. Norton voters approved a tax break package to save the company $2.45 million in property taxes over the next 13 years. The state awarded Horizon Beverages a $350,000 investment tax credit.
Horizon Beverages currently employees 500 people, with 380 of them in Massachusetts.
Horizon Beverages is a family-owned wine, spirits and beer distributor and plans to have the new headquarters up and running by Labor Day of next year.
As a whole, New England is faring better than other regions in this economy. Numbers just released by the federal government show the unemployment rate for New England now stands at 7.8 percent.
Compare that to the Pacific region, where the rate is above 11 percent. Only the Midwest has a lower unemployment rate at 6.9 percent.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports on a groundbreaking in Boston
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Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economist, says he does not think we will go into a recession, but he does expect the state's unemployment rate will rise.
"We're slowing down now, and in the fourth quarter of this year we could see a market slow down," he says. "We could even lose some jobs in the last quarter of this year, and that means the unemployment rate could begin to rise again."
Clayton-Matthews also says the best to hope for now is slow growth.
"The national economy is close to getting into a recession again. The European economy is close to a recession. We export half of what we make in goods and services to the rest of the country and the rest of the world, and if those economies are slowing down, we can't avoid feeling those effects…. We are all connected. No state economy is an island to itself," he said.
Clayton-Matthews blames Washington and the world for the downturn expected ahead.
"It has gotten significantly worse, ever since the problems with the national debt began to surface this summer... The debt crisis in Europe is now at a critical juncture, Greece could fail, and that could send the banking center of Europe into crisis," he said. "Congress has tied up Washington's ability to get the economy moving again, so now it's up to the consumer."
He's pinning his hopes on the consumer.
"Consumer spending increased significantly in July, and my hope is the consumer sector will prop up the economy… It's a vicious circle, it works well when things are going up, consumers are spending, businesses are hiring; but it works pretty badly when things are going in the other direction," he said.
