2015 CHAMBER JOBS REPORT – REGIONAL DATA SHOW JOBS GAIN: AREA EMPLOYERS ADD 12,359 (+11.8%) NET JOBS OVER DECADE; 2,445 (+2.1%) IN LAST YEAR; TOTAL JOBS IN “GREATER CHARLOTTESVILLE,” 117, 356, HIGHEST REPORTED OVERALL JOBS LEVEL TO DATE
(Charlottesville, Virginia – September 2) The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, in advance of Labor Day, today released its “2015 Chamber Jobs Report,” the Chamber’s twelfth annual comprehensive compilation and analysis of employment in Greater Charlottesville.
Overall, over the report’s 10-year study period (2004-2014), the Chamber Jobs Report data illustrate total jobs in the Greater Charlottesville region growing from 104,997 jobs in 2004 to 117,356 jobs in 2014, an increase of +11.8% or 12,359 total jobs; an annual growth rate of 1.18%. Over the report’s 10-year period, the region has added a net gain of 8,960 (+11.3% / +1.13%/year) jobs in private enterprise and 3,399 (+12.0% / +1.2%/year) in governmental jobs.
Greater Charlottesville’s job-producing engines added a net +2,445 jobs (+1,960 in private enterprise; +485 in government) in 2014 over 2013. The Report’s data show that in 2013, overall employment within the Region finally exceeded 2007 levels; the year prior to the “Great Recession” (2008-2009). The continued job growth in 2014, places overall employment within the Region at the highest reported level to date. In 2014, total private-sector jobs (a key economic job diversity metric), at 83,861, is the first year that private enterprise jobs in the Region have exceeded the pre-recession level.
“The Chamber Jobs Report – 2014, Report & Analysis: Employment in the Greater Charlottesville Region, 2002-2012” is underwritten by Chamber member enterprises – Adams & Garth Staffing, the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development, and Wells Fargo. The study was conducted for the Chamber Economic & Government Affairs Committee by Jill Williamson, a College of William & Mary summer intern with the Free Enterprise Forum, using the official employment database of the Virginia Employment Commission. Chamber President Timothy Hulbert and Free Enterprise Forum President Neil Williamson coordinated the project, developed by Kevin Decker, of Decker Economics, an independent economist. The 2015 Chamber Jobs Report can be accessed at: www.cvillechamber.com.
“The 2015 Chamber Jobs Report showing continued job growth is excellent news,” stated Chad Zakaib, Vice President of Operations for Legacy Hospice, who serves as 2015 Chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors. “Our annual Chamber Jobs Reports, each year, focus on jobs within our region; leading our community to keep an emphasis that jobs for our citizens, must be our top regional priority.”
“The 2015 Chamber Jobs Report shows that our region’s jobs growth is continuing to gain strength,” said Joseph Raichel, Charlottesville Bank President of Wells Fargo, and a member of the Chamber Board of Directors, “We are very pleased that our region’s employers have added another 2,400+ jobs just over the last year. This strong upward jobs growth trend is very positive.”
The 2015 Chamber Jobs Report reveals changing private sector job patterns within the Region: overall job growth in private enterprise occurred from 2004 – 2007; then a decline in private enterprise jobs in 2008 & 2009; and, steady private enterprise job growth from 2010 through 2014. Over the past decade there has been steady, almost uninterrupted, annual regional growth in governmental jobs (federal; state – principally the University of Virginia; city, county, district administrative & schools, etc.).
The Chamber Jobs Report data show that, over the study period, private enterprise job growth within Greater Charlottesville (+12%) far outpaced private enterprise job growth in the rest of Virginia (+3.6%). Greater Charlottesville outpaced the rest of Virginia in eight (8) of ten (10) industry sectors (the “Construction” and “Trade, Transportation & Utilities” sectors lagged behind those sectors’ performance in the Commonwealth).
The Report further reveals jobs growth in six (6) of ten (10) private enterprise job sectors. Over the period, “Professional & Business Services,” “Education & Health Services,” and “Leisure & Hospitality” are the three leading percentage job gain areas.
Among private enterprise employment sectors:
• Trade, Transportation & Utilities hold the largest segment of jobs, 16,316 or 23.65%;
• Professional & Business Services is second with 13,843 jobs or 20.07%;
• Leisure & Hospitality is third with 12,689 jobs or 18.39%;
• Education and Health Services is fourth with 12,288 jobs or 17.81%; and,
• Manufacturing is fifth with 5,925 jobs or 8.59%.
The Report confirms that Albemarle County, University of Virginia’s main location, is the region’s leading jobs engine, serves as the leading location of the Region’s job growth with +6,764 net added jobs (+25%); 54.7% of the total job growth (+12,359 jobs) added in the region since 2004.
The 2015 Chamber Jobs Report will be presented and discussed in detail at the 2015 Chamber Jobs Summit, co-hosted by the City of Charlottesville, on Wednesday, September 23rd at the Jefferson School City Center. Joining Chamber President Timothy Hulbert and Free Enterprise Forum President Neil Williamson in leading the discussion at the summit will be:
• Joseph Raichel, Charlottesville Bank President of Wells Fargo, Chamber Board of Directors member and a Chamber Jobs Report underwriter;
• Lee Witherow, President of Adams & Garth Staffing, a Chamber Jobs Report underwriter;
• Helen Cauthen, President of the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development, a Chamber Jobs Report underwriter; and,
• Cass Kawecki, Vice President, CBRE-Charlottesville, a Chamber Board of Directors member.
The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to representing private enterprise, promoting business and enhancing the quality of life in the Greater Charlottesville communities. The more than 1,100 Chamber member and affiliated member enterprises employ more than 45,000 men and women in the Greater Charlottesville region, representing an estimated total payroll of more than $1.75 billion a year.
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