Jennifer Harrell poses Monday in the living room of the townhouse she owns in Lawrence. She is trying to sell her townhome so she can move to Topeka for her current job.

When the national economy started its downward slide, Jennifer Harrell was one of its early victims.

The 34-year-old civil engineer from Lawrence was laid off in September 2007 from a job she had with a small engineering firm in suburban Kansas City.

The construction business was declining, and demand for designing storm sewers and streets for private commercial and residential developments also was dropping.

“The private sector wasn’t doing very well at all because the housing market was down,” Harrell said recently.

She got another job three months later in Topeka. Because of job requirements, she needs to move to that city, and that brought her a new problem. She’s been unable to sell her townhouse.

Growing problem

More than a year after Harrell was laid off, a growing number of Lawrence area residents are facing the same problems she encountered. Several businesses have laid off employees for economic reasons, and a few have even closed. Locally, unemployment is up and so are mortgage foreclosures. Housing sales are down, as are sales tax receipts and property values.

City, county and state governments are facing severe budgeting problems. So are the Lawrence school district and Kansas University. Vacant positions are not being filled and some layoffs are planned. Programs and services are on the chopping block.

This year, the Journal-World will take quarterly snapshots of the Lawrence economy. Stories will be told that describe how national and world economic conditions are affecting the city. We will monitor the economic downturn and, it is hoped, the recovery. We will give you the basic facts and numbers, and tell the stories of people such as Harrell and how they are handling economic difficulties.

We’ll also talk with the experts who offer tips about how to survive the recession, credit crunch and related matters.

While Lawrence has its problems, those who monitor local and state economic issues agree that the problems here won’t be as bad as many other areas of the country will experience.

KU’s stability

One of the main reasons is KU, which employs 9,396 people. It is the city’s largest employer. Historically KU has been a stable entity during bad economic periods. The university, however, isn’t untouched by economic troubles. Last month KU leaders announced that 11 jobs were being eliminated and 110 job openings will not be filled. Years of declining state funding has meant KU needs $316 million in maintenance work.

“The university is going to have budget cuts, but I would imagine it’s going to continue on pretty strongly,” said Art Hall, executive director of the Center for Applied Economics in the KU School of Business.

Lawrence has weathered other economic storms, said Shirley Martin-Smith, owner of Martin-Smith Personnel Services, an Adecco franchise. In the 1980s, a few major employers went out of business, including All-Star Dairy and Stokley-Van Camp, she noted.

Since then, Lawrence’s job growth has been in government, mainly the city, state, county and also at KU and in the public school system, Martin-Smith said. Twenty years ago, 8 percent of the labor force commuted and now it is three times that, she estimated.

“Not everybody works in Lawrence,” Martin-Smith said. “A few jobs here and there, and that adds up.”