By Jane Welch-Maiolo
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
PERRYSBURG – Although numbers may be down in some areas, the economy is not in a recession, said Wade Gottschalk, executive director of the Wood County Economic Development Commission,
At the June 18 Perrysburg Chamber of Commerce meeting, Gottschalk spoke on the market and more specifically, how Wood County is faring.
He acknowledged that news over the past six months has not been very positive in terms of the economy. Two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP) figures does not necessarily mean a recession, he explained.
The GDP measures total economic activity. It represents the total market value of all finished goods and services produced within a specific time period, and is an indicator of a nation’s economic health.
But that is not the only indicator, Gottschalk said. In 2001, the United States saw over three quarters negative, positive and negative GDPs. “But, that was still a recession because we saw lots of job losses.”
He continued, “It’s very difficult to have a recession while you are still creating positive jobs.”
The current economy is creating jobs, and unemployment numbers are low. “It’s hard to have a real recession regardless of what the GDP numbers tell you right now.”
Gottschalk believes the thing to watch now is inflation.
“Will it stay above the 2% target?” he said.
He noted if the federal reserve cuts interest rates, that will likely boost the economy.
Consumer confidence is another factor to consider as consumers pull back from spending.
“Retail spending has been down for the last two months,” he said.
Adding to economic uncertainty are events overseas. Trade wars and geopolitical events also can have a negative impact, he said.
“I don’t think we are in a recession right now by any means, but we have slowed down.”
He is hopeful that the nation is starting to avoid the trade wars, “but geopolitical events as we can see, can absolutely impact our economy, especially in higher fuel prices.”
Gottschalk admits that job creation has slowed over the past three years from 216,000 per month in 2023 to 124,000 in 2025. “I still think it’s a pretty good number, considering we have a lot of retirees and very few generation Zs entering the labor force.”
He expressed concern over the generation Z group, pointing out they are a very small demographic and insufficient in numbers to replace the baby boomers, the last of which reach age 65 in 2029.
But ultimately, he said as long as job creation is positive and unemployment rates remain low, the country will “probably avoid any kind of real recession.”
Looking at the economy from a local view point, Gottschalk said Wood County is doing well. The WCEDC is a public/private partnership that focuses specifically on the industrial side of economic development, he explained. “Business retention and expansion is our primary thing.”
Gottscalk said the majority of the commission’s time is devoted to servicing businesses already in the county.
“We want to make sure they are growing and thriving here,” he said, pointing out those companies represent “your best salesmen to get new businesses to come here.”
The WCEDC also partners with agencies like the Wood County Port Authority and Regional Growth Partnership to bring companies to the region.
He noted these partnerships are crucial, adding that corporations expect the WCEDC to deliver the outcomes they expect in a timely fashion.
“Companies move fast, and they want you to move fast,” he added.
By working at that corporate pace the commission successfully brought in major projects. They include the CSX intermodal facility in North Baltimore, Home Depot e-commerce in Luckey, Amazon in Rossford and Perrysburg Township, NSG Glass North America in Rossford, First Solar plants in Perrysburg, and expansion and more recently the Meta Data Center north of Bowling Green.
These companies have created more than 14,000 jobs. Past projects pay more than $11 million in property taxes, he said.
Last year, the county created 2 million jobs, saw a positive GDP of 2.8%, had an unemployment of 4.1% and a labor force participation rate of 62.5%. In addition, manufacturing investment has nearly doubled on an annual basis since pre-Covid.
Gottschalk is hopeful they can continue to improve upon those statistics and bring new businesses to Wood County.