A few weeks ago, Greater Grays Harbor, Inc. (GGHI) released its annual Economic Vitality Index (EVI). This specially commissioned research collects demographic and revenue data from across different sources and presents them to the community during the State of Grays Harbor.
What does the 2022 data say about Grays Harbor economy? Simply put, it is growing, but we continue to battle our historic barriers.
Grays Harbor, like the rest of the nation, continues to be an aging community with the largest number of residents (and growing) over age 45. This statistic has significant implications for our healthcare system and employment numbers. With the lowest unemployment rate in over 4 years, finding talent continues to be a challenge for local employers, yet the total number of jobs in Grays Harbor has increased by over 6% in the last year. More jobs are a good sign and while the region’s household income continues to grow ($53,615) it still lags Washington State’s at $82,400.
When it comes to revenue, the region’s Gross Regional Product (GRP) has grown roughly 6% from $2.19 billion to $2.32 billion. This number represents the market value of all goods and services produced in the region. Growth could be attributed to inflation rates and the fact that greater levels of production have occurred as industries have both returned to pre-pandemic production and/or experienced growth in demand. Retail sales similarly grew by 8.2% and this is a jump from the 2.5% growth in the previous year. Aberdeen, unincorporated Grays harbor County and Ocean Shores respectively make up the largest pieces of the tax revenue pie. Additionally, it is no surprise that tourism revenue in the county continues to grow. There was a slight dip last year, but the $3.29 million dollar revenue performance in 2022 continues to outperform pre-pandemic era years by well over a million dollars.
In the May CEO Report I shared the good news about the historic amount of public investment in our area’s infrastructure and the transformative capabilities of this funding. Couple this information with the awareness of a growing economy, with an aging population and lagging wages, it is time to revisit deliberate conversations about planning and preparing for the region’s economic future. How does the community prepare, respond, and build on these large investments? Residents of Grays Harbor can weigh in on what they consider important for the state’s future economy by completing the Washington in the Making survey at this link. If you are a GGHI member you have also been sent a Member Survey that asks you to weigh in on the most significant issues for your business and for the local economy. The designated primary representative for each member organization received the invitation to provide feedback and we hope to have broad representation from our membership base.
If you’d like to learn more about the 2022 EVI and visit reports from previous years click here.