Economy On Minds Throughout 2009

When 2009 began the nation was reeling from an economic collapse that had everyone focused on Wall Street. But on the isolated shores of Door County, business owners and their employees wondered how the collapse would trickle down to peninsula cash registers.

The year began with ominous signs. The Fairfield Gallery closed, stunning many, and storefronts on Sturgeon Bay’s 3rd Avenue and Egg Harbor Road sat empty. Prime retail space throughout Northern Door communities sported FOR RENT signs all year as well.

When lodging numbers dropped through the spring and into June, the county’s entrepreneurs were on edge. But the season wasn’t as bad as many feared early on.

Joel Kersebet, who owns Ecology Sports and Base Camp Coffee Bar in Sister Bay with his wife Alicia, said the couple lowered expectations heading into the summer, but were pleasantly surprised.

“All you can do is hope for the best,” he said, “and we feel very fortunate to have done well.”

This was the third year that Door County collected a room tax, and through September collections for the tax on lodging nights was down about two percent for the year. They weren’t stellar results, but in a year when Door County Visitor Bureau Director Jack Moneypenny said “flat is the new up,” some were encouraged by the results.

“I really think that what the Visitor Bureau implemented was done at just the right time or [business] could have been a lot worse,” Kersebet said. “Now, that’s easy for me to say because I’m not the one paying the room tax, but I think it helped.”

The data gleaned from room tax collection reports indicated that the lodging industry had not resorted to steep discounting to fill rooms. So Door County was still bringing visitors in, the problem was getting them to spend once they got here.

Retailers and service station owners said customers were picking up fewer extras, or foregoing items like the expensive bottle of wine for a more economical choice. Those small decisions added up to big impacts for the peninsula economy.

It wasn’t just tourism business that took a hit. The strongest ripples from the economic slump may not yet have hit home. Bay Ship had work for much of 2009, but the company announced in August that it would lay off 400 workers before year’s end. Palmer Johnson and Marine Travel Lift also cut back, meaning hundreds of people are jobless this winter.

Unemployment in Door County, even in the peak summer season, rose to its highest levels in two decades, nearly doubling the rate of 2008. In a summer when visitors cut back on spending and tips, those working in the tourism industry saw cash and hours harder to come by, meaning they’ll have less to spend through the winter.

As the calendar turns to a new decade, Kersebet said he’s just as nervous as he was when 2009 arrived, but he said the uncertain climate only spurs greater commitment.

“With the economy the way it is, the best place you can put your money is back into your business and your community. That’s the only way you can have control of it.”