Manufacturing, small businesses make big impact in Wooster
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland president and chief executive officer Beth M. Hammack met with community, small business, and education leaders in Wooster, Ohio.
Small businesses play a huge role in the American economy—creating jobs, innovation, and economic opportunity. Continuing her Around the District tour, Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack met with business and community leaders in the city of Wooster, Ohio, a micropolitan1 area about 50 miles south of Cleveland.
Wooster, with its population of 27,000, is the largest city in Wayne County. Manufacturing is the county’s largest industry by employment, making up nearly 30 percent of the workforce.2
President Hammack visited one Wooster manufacturer, Seaman Corporation, and took a guided tour of the plant that makes industrial-coated fabrics that are used in a variety of areas including roofing and pond liners.
President Hammack asks Jessica Little, a process engineer at Seaman Corporation, a question during a tour. (October 4, 2024)
Jessica Little, Seaman Corporation process engineer, explains the quality control process to President Hammack. (October 4, 2024)
Hammack also spoke with more than a dozen of the about 200 employees who work at the Wooster facility. The conversation touched on topics like housing, childcare costs, and the tradeoffs people are making because of higher prices on things like groceries. Hammack thanked everyone for their feedback and emphasized how valuable this information is to understanding what’s happening in the Fourth District’s economy.
Seaman Corporation employees who shared their insights with President Beth Hammack. From left to right, Brad Landon, Brian Geib, Jessica Little, Terry Link, Courtney Tschantz, Jeff Swartz, Susan Meade, Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack, Mariana Weyer, Don Girt, Kate Bittner, Baba Raut, Diana Napier, and Savannah Hunt. (October 4, 2024)
Hammack also visited the College of Wooster, a liberal arts college that is home to about 1,800 undergraduate students representing 47 states and 76 countries.
President Hammack walks through the College of Wooster campus with college officials. (October 4, 2024)
From left to right, Lisa Perfetti, College of Wooster provost; Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack; and David Jones, the college's VP of finance, tour the campus. (October 4, 2024)
Hammack toured the city’s historic downtown, which leaders pointed to as a great example of the important role small businesses play in creating a vibrant community.
Cleveland Fed Business Advisory Council member Steve Matthew gives President Hammack a tour of downtown Wooster. (October 4, 2024)
Regional leaders, including members of the Cleveland Fed’s advisory councils, told Hammack they are proud of the city’s vibrant downtown with its more than 40 small businesses, saying it has taken a lot of work and dedicated public–private partnerships to reach this point.
Wooster’s small-town feel is one of the things small business owner Carrolyn Salazar said encouraged her to open a brick-and-mortar bridal shop downtown. Describing the city’s historic business district as “Hallmark movie-esque,” Salazar showed Hammack around her nearly two-year-old shop. Salazar and her husband Freddy spoke with Hammack, Cleveland Fed director Eddie Steiner, and Steve Matthew, a Cleveland Fed Business Advisory Council member, about the challenges they face as business owners, including bank lending standards and high costs. Even so, the Salazars say that their business is doing well and has become a destination for out-of-town brides.
This is the type of information the 12 Federal Reserve Banks collect in the Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS), an effort led by the Cleveland Fed. The SBCS gathers information each year from a national sample of small businesses with fewer than 500 employees on topics ranging from credit availability to hiring concerns.3
President Hammack and Carrolyn Salazar, owner of The Ivory Room in downtown Wooster, talk about the small business’s challenges and rewards. (October 4, 2024)
The Ivory Room in downtown Wooster. (October 4, 2024)
According to the nonprofit Main Street Wooster, Inc., over the past nearly 40 years, the city’s historic business district has received $145 million of public and private reinvestment, and retail occupancy has risen from a low of 42 percent to 90 percent.4
About President Beth M. Hammack’s Around the District tour
President Hammack is visiting communities across the Fourth District as part of her Around the District tour to meet and connect with the people who live and work in all corners of the region and to gain a better understanding of how the economy is working in different communities. The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Hammack will use this information to inform her policy views and better represent the Fourth District around the Federal Open Market Committee table.
Footnotes
- Census Bureau. Glossary. census.gov/glossary/?term=Micropolitan+Statistical+Area. Accessed October 2, 2024. Return to 1
- Data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/cew/. Manufacturing employment percentage estimated using data from first quarter 2024. Return to 2
- Fed Small Business. fedsmallbusiness.org/about. Accessed October 7, 2024. Return to 3
- Main Street Wooster, Inc., Our Mission and History. mainstreetwooster.org/mission. Accessed October 2, 2024. Return to 4
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Small Business Credit Survey
The Small Business Credit Survey is a national sample of small businesses, or firms with fewer than 500 employees, aimed at providing insight into firms' financing and debt needs and experiences. Analysis of this dataset is issued through a series of reports.
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