Breaking Down the Economic Vitality Index (EVI)
Last month GGHI presented its annual EVI report. This report provides a performance breakdown of the county’s economic indicators. New this year was a report on COVID-19 impact to include information on relief dollars in the area and consumer spending habits.
During the event attendees were polled as to their sentiment before and after hearing the data as well as their suggestions for economic recovery priorities.
Before hearing the research presentation, 47% of those polled stated that they were enthusiastic about the county’s economic health, 34% of attendees stated that they were cautiously optimistic and 19% expressed concern due to our county’s pattern of lagging in other economic recovery cycles.
At the conclusion of the event 47% of the attendees expressed enthusiasm about the trend and the data shared, 42% expressed some optimism and being pleasantly surprised by the data and only 12% were concerned by some of the trending data.
When asked what the business and public sectors must prioritize as essential to create a vibrant local economy, 70% of attendees indicated addressing the housing inventory and affordability needs of the region as one of the top priorities. Other top priorities were higher wage jobs (42%), improving the regulatory environment (27%) and education attainment (24%). None of these prioritizations are wrong – based on the data that was shared these are high need areas for our region to not only sustain our current performance, but also thrive beyond what we are currently doing.
What story does this data tell? Given everything our community has been through in the past 15 months the data in this report is encouraging. Growth in wages, home prices and taxable sales are all encouraging and given the trend, appear to show sustainability. The dip in the county wide hotel/motel tax is nominal and our region as our tourism assets have been rediscovered by so many visitors. If we continue to provide high quality experiences to those that visit our county, regardless of their destination we will get return customers and eager and intrepid explorers.
Overall, I am optimistic. Grays Harbor County showed resiliency and strength in one of the hardest economic challenges our modern world has seen. Other, seemingly “recession proof” communities have not fared as well, and it is my hope that our performance throughout these challenges tells a positive and appealing story to those businesses seeking to locate here in Grays Harbor.
To read the entire EVI Report click here.
To learn more about the COVID-19 related economic recovery resources received in the county click here.