Good afternoon,
Cecil County economic development chief Chris Moyer took issue with last week’s column that in one sentence described the Cecil County economy as sluggish.
The column’s topic was the ambitious $700 million Southfields development in Elkton. The project – which faces numerous challenges and its share of skeptics – would drive growth in Elkton for years to come.
Moyer has a point. The county on the northeastern edge of Maryland had a June unemployment rate of 4.3 percent slightly above the 4 percent statewide rate for Maryland.
At last report, Elkton’s unadjusted jobless rate is 4.6 percent.
The figures stand in sharp contrast from 2010 when its unemployment rate rose past 10 percent in Cecil County. As far as population growth is concerned, the sluggish description is accurate.
Elkton’s population is up by a paltry 200 since 2010 to around 15,600 with the county’s headcount faring better – up about 1,600 to 102,000. The slow population growth is also a reflection of an economy tied to the fate of neighboring New Castle County, which has seen similar trends.
While the rapid growth we have seen in Middletown, comes with many challenges, even more, serious problems come with little or no population gain.
None of this takes anything away from Cecil’s turnaround, which seems to be on solid ground.
Still, it is clear, Elkton could use the jobs and opportunities that would be generated by the Southfields project.
175 years for the Cecil Whig
Meanwhile, the county’s newspaper, the Cecil Whig, is celebrating its 175thanniversary.
The newspaper’s publication schedule has shrunk from five days a week to two and it is now printed in Easton, MD. It now shares its quarters with an electrical contractor and a brewery after at one point employing more than 100 at the site.
But the Whig is still standing while competitors have come and gone.
By the way, the Whig published an in depth look at the above-mentioned Southfields project. To its credit, the media site lowers its paywall for stories of broad community interest, a contrast to what we see on this side of the state line.
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