Pittsburg ? Economic recovery has been like recent spring rains hit and miss.

News of job creation in one part of the state has been washed away by reports of more layoffs in aviation, manufacturing and telecommunications.

	www.atkinsonindustries.com

At the regional industrial park on the northern edge of Pittsburg, business leaders say the sun has been shining during the state’s economic slump. One example, they say, is Atkinson Industries.

The company manufactures what are known as modular enclosures, catering to petrochemical and power generation industries. Sometimes called “houses,” the small steel metal buildings, engineered and climate- controlled, are designed to hold switching, computer or other equipment.

“Our business has been good, especially during the past two years,” said Carl Johnson, general manager of Atkinson Industries. “We’ve been riding the boom in power generation.”

But Marlee Carpenter, lobbyist for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said it was hard to tell whether the state economy has hit bottom.

“There’s not announcement of layoffs every day, but layoffs do continue,” Carpenter said.

Kansas’ unemployment stood at 4.6 percent in March, compared to 4.3 percent in March 2001 and 5.7 percent nationally. Observers statewide caution that storm clouds may not have vanished.

An uncertain future

In Pittsburg, even with Atkinson Industries, the picture is mixed.

The boom in power generation led the company to increase its work force by 42 percent over the past year and post record revenue for six years, with sights set for 2002 on close to $25 million. That growth has helped keep down Crawford County’s unemployment rate, which was 4.6 percent in March.

However, the recession and Enron Corp.’s collapse amid scandal have taken the steam out of power generation, Johnson said. Expansion by the utility industry, previously expected to last another two to three years, came to a grinding halt.

“The next six months look good, but the six months after that look less good,” Johnson said.

The slowdown has allowed the company, founded in 1919, to trim its backlog of orders and improve on delivery times to customers, he said.

“We’ve been diversified enough that we have some insulation from a slowing economy,” Johnson said.

Wichita hit hard

While Pittsburg has seen modest growth, Wichita has not fared as well because of its heavy reliance on aviation. In fact, some economic surveys have suggested that the city will see its economy affected more by Sept. 11 than most others in the nation.

However, city spokesman Mike Taylor remained optimistic about Wichita’s economy.

More than 6,000 jobs have been lost in the aviation industry, but there also are signs the worst may have passed.

Cessna Aircraft Co. is opening a new service center for its Citation business jet, Taylor said, creating 800 jobs. Legislation passed this session dedicates more than $50 million for public and private aviation research.

“I think it’s going to come back faster than a lot of people thought,” he said.

But Lynda Wilkinson, executive director of Southeast Kansas Inc., a 13-county economic development organization, said despite glimmers of recovery, most people remain wary of where the Kansas economy is headed.

“I think people are guarded, especially small businesses,” Wilkinson said. “They aren’t having great increases in sales, but there is some slow growth.”

Wilkinson said state spending takes greater importance in her region, which has six community colleges, Pittsburg State University and countless school districts.

“It’s a big portion of our employment. People are concerned,” she said.

Earlier this year, Senate President Dave Kerr was optimistic the economy would begin to show recovery by the second quarter which ends June 30. Later, he joined a bevy of economists recently who have revised their expectations downward for 2002.

“I don’t expect a quick turn by any means,” said Kerr, R-Hutchinson. “I am hopeful that we get a turn yet this calendar year.”

Kerr said a recent review of unemployment claims shows that Kansas is paying out $10 million more in claims, reaching 50 percent more people than a year ago.

However, initial claims are only 10 percent higher than a year ago.

That, he said, would indicate that initial claims were slowing and layoffs may be bottoming out.

“That’s one of the more hopeful signs,” Kerr said.