Survival and surprising success in a tough economy

In the last 18 months 1300 jobs in industry have been lost in Washington County and several industries have gone out of business. Residential real estate is at a standstill and some realtors have gone out of business. Retail had closings, but also a few new stores and restaurants. Yet education and medical, the two largest employers in the county, have had minimum change in workforce. (ETSU had a 10% increase in enrollment this year.)

Yet there are businesses and industries in the area that in the last year are expanding and have had a sudden increase in production. Some companies have doubled their workforce. One company moved from California to Washington County, TN for a more affordable business climate, and others are succeeding because of innovations that have kept the work flow steady in troubled times. Profiles of these companies can be found in the Feature articles, linked in the menu on the left.