BUSINESS
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL/SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2010
Economist says turnaround won’t happen until ’11
Wachovia customer Ciro Covarrubias, owner of Supermercado La Villa in Marietta, uses the newly installed envelope-free ATM machine at the Roswell Street Wachovia branch in Marietta to deposit checks. The bank, which has 29 locations, has launched a line of ATMs that allow customers to deposit checks electronically up to 8 p.m.
By Jon Gillooly jgillooly@mdjonline.com
Staff/file
Rushing to bank? Wait! New Wachovia ATMs allow electronic, late-night deposits By Katy Ruth Camp krcamp@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — The days of rushing to the bank before it closes to deposit a paycheck are over for Wachovia customers. The bank, which has 29 locations in Marietta and is fresh off of its merger with Wells Fargo, has launched a line of Automatic Teller Machines that allow customers to deposit checks electronically up to 8 p.m. Customers insert their debit cards, put in their PINs and insert one or more checks. The ATM scans the check or checks and shows customers the amount to approve. Upon approval, the machine will keep the checks and print out a receipt with miniature copies of each check. The money is posted to the customer’s account upon completion of deposit. “This is cost-saving, more efficient and convenient, and is also very green in that it cuts down on the amount of paper and ink being used,” said Arin Crandall, area business banking manager for Wells Fargo. “The technology is really cutting-edge and gives our customers more choices and more resources.” Ciro Covarrubias of Marietta, who owns two Supermercado La Villa gro-
cery stores in Cobb County, said he frequently uses the ATM to deposit his checks, and that the later cutoff time has been crucial in the past. “I have a lot of checks coming in and out, and if I can’t get to the bank by 4 p.m., that really causes issues,” Covarrubias said. “And the fact that it lets me keep copies of the checks is really great because I can see them as they were, and they are much easier to look over than a stack of receipts.” The ATM will also accept cash deposits. The same process occurs as depositing a check, but the screen will count bills, show you how much is being deposited and will allow customers to choose whether they want a receipt. Stacy Vandiver, district manager for the bank’s central Cobb region, said that the ATMs were developed a few years ago, but began in the western part of the U.S. and have just now migrated to Georgia over the past few months. The bank has also created 10 jobs in recent months in Cobb County, and Vandiver said that she expects up to 40 jobs to be created this year. “The Wells Fargo model has up to 20 percent more employees than typical banks, because it is important to us to have a high level of customer
service and to hire locally to help our local economy,” Vandiver said. One of those new hires is Erol Rodriguez of Marietta, who was hired in July as a teller after being laid off in May from Chase’s Circuit City division. “Knowing that the banking industry was really going down, it was really surprising for me to be hired at another bank, and for the process to happen so quickly,” Rodriguez said. Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens said both the ATMs and the company’s new hires will be beneficial to the county’s struggling economy. “The new ATMs are really a neat technology. They’re much more user friendly, they help to keep you organized and offer so much more than the old technology,” said Olens, whose family and law firm bank with Wachovia. “And the fact that they’re hiring really brings some optimism. We are seeing businesses expanding much more now than we were six months ago, but you’re really going to see a ‘U’ more than a ‘V’ as far as the turnaround in the economy. But employers are really starting to take steps to move forward both with their technology and their effect on the economy, and Wachovia is a good example of that.”
School district Cobb’s top employer Five Cobb companies were named among Atlanta’s Top 25 employers by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, ranked by number of full-time employees in Atlanta. Ranked No. 6 was Cobb County School District, located at 514 Glover Street in Marietta. Established in 1885, the number of full-time employees in Atlanta and Georgia as of Dec. 1, 2008, was 15,663 and had a 2.85-percent change from Dec. 1, 2007. The number of employees districtwide was 15,663. Its services or operations in Atlanta is public education K-12. Ranked No. 9 was Publix Super Markets Inc., located at 2600 Delk Road in Marietta. Established in 1992, the number of fulltime employees in Atlanta as of Dec. 1, 2008, was 9,291 and had a -0.82percent change from Dec. 1, 2007. The number of
full-time employees in Georgia as of Dec. 1, 2008 was 11,253 and had a 1.11-percent change from Dec. 1, 2007. The number of employees companywide was 70,156. Its services or operations in Atlanta is retail grocer with about 1,000 stores throughout the Southeast. Ranked No. 10 was The Home Depot, located at 2455 Paces Ferry Road in the Atlanta zipcoded portion of Cobb County. Established in 1978, the number of fulltime employees companywide was 9,000 and had a -1.67-percent change from Dec. 1, 2007. The number of employees in Georgia as of Dec. 1, 2008 was 13,000, and had a -3.73 percent change from Dec. 1, 2007. The number of employees companywide was 300,000. Its services or operations in Atlanta is
home improvement retailer. Ranked No. 12 was WellStar Health System Inc., located at 805 Sandy Plains Road in Marietta. Established in 1993, the number of full-time employees in Atlanta and Georgia as of Dec. 1, 2008, was 8,556 and a -0.34-percent change from Dec. 1, 2007. The number of employees companywide was 8,556. Its services or operations in Atlanta is delivering health care through hospitals, physicians and services. Ranked No. 18 was Lockheed Martin Corp., located at 86 South Cobb Drive in Marietta. Lockheed Martin Corp. includes Lockheed Martin
Aeronautics Co., Lockheed Martin Electronic Systems, Lockheed Martin Enterprise Operations and Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services. Established in 1951, the number of fulltime employees in Atlanta as of Dec. 1, 2008 was 7,171 and had a 3.48-percent change from Dec. 1, 2007. The number of full-time employees in Georgia as of Dec. 1, 2008 was 7,976 and had a 3.81-percent change from Dec. 1, 2007. The number of employees companywide was 130,176. Its services or operations in Atlanta is researches, designs, develops, manufactures, integrates and sustains advanced technology systems, and products and services.
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Don’t expect 2010 to be much better, economist Dr. Albert Niemi Jr. told an audience of 450 during his annual forecast lecture at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre recently. “I think it is probably 2011 before you see a significant uptick in the economy,” Niemi said. The talk marked the 17th year Bank of North Georgia hosted Niemi to deliver an economic forecast over breakfast to bank customers and prospects. Jeri Barr, CEO of the Marietta-based Center for Family Resources, was less than pleased by the forecast. “I was really hoping for a hopeful look for 2010, as all of us are,” Barr said after the lecture. “2009 has been very stressful. We’ve seen a 50 percent increase in the folks who need assistance, but it’s level in the amount of folks who can help, and now I’m hearing from (Niemi) that we’ll have to budget probably for a similar year in 2010. I was hoping to be more hopeful today.” Niemi served as dean of the University of Georgia’s business college from 1982 to 1996 before becoming dean of Southern Methodist University’s business school. In 2009 the gross domestic product in the U.S. fell by 2.4 percent, while in Georgia it fell by 3.8 percent. For 2010, Niemi predicts the U.S economy will grow at a rate of between 2.5 and 2.7 percent, while he believes Georgia will struggle to reach a growth of 2 percent. Anything under 3 percent is fairly inconsequential, he said. “This is the first time in 40 years that Georgia has underperformed the national economy and it’s kind of sad to see,” he said. Georgia’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average. The U.S. unemployment rate, Niemi predicts, will fall to 9.9 percent next year, while Georgia’s will likely still be at 10.5 by the end of next year. The driving force of Georgia’s economy over the last 40 years was low taxes, low cost of labor and land, and good business and weather climates. Georgia became an economic force because of the migration of people from other parts of the U.S. which drove the housing and commercial real estate industries, creating business opportunities. The problem is, there are too many housing units on
Dr. Albert Niemi Jr. the market, he said. Niemi said he often visits his grandchildren, who live by Pope High School in east Cobb. In 2007, he watched a developer in that area advertise new homes in the low $1 million range. Last year, the same homes advertised in the $800,000s. Now they’re in the $600,000s. None have sold, he said. “There’s a tremendous glut of residential, of commercial real estate, and that was the driving force in our growth, but that’s why it’s going to take us a while to come back. And that’s why in 2009 and 2010 (it was) the first two years in the last 40 where Georgia underperformed the national economy,” he said. From 2000 to 2007, Georgia averaged about 110,000 new homes a year. This year, fewer than 18,000 were built, while in 2010 the number is estimated between 32,000 and 33,0000, he said. “You drive around Buckhead and Midtown, as I did, you see these condo projects with these great big signs, ‘make an offer,’” he said. Still, from a national perspective, Niemi said his choices for the three greatest engines of growth in the U.S. economy over the next 20 years are Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. “I think, long term, Georgia’s in a golden situation,” he said. The recovery probably began in August, he said, making it a 20-month recession and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression when measured by GDP. The 2007-09 recession lost 6 percent GDP, compared to the 1980-82 recession, which lost 2 percent, and the Great Depression, which lost 26 percent. “This will become known as the Great Recession because it is the worst recession since the 1930s,” he said.