TOPEKA & SHAWNEE CO. PREDICTED TO BE ONE OF THE LEAST LIKELY COMMUNITIES TO BE ‘HIT HARD’ BY COVID-19 RECESSION

Topeka, KS, March 24, 2020–  The Brookings Institute released a study this week evaluating the risk of an economic recession as a result of COVID-19 on 382 metropolitan areas in the United States. “The places a COVID-19 recession will likely hit hardest” ranked Topeka as 346 of the 382 places to be most significantly impacted by the recession. The article describes how different metro areas across the United States could be affected by a possible recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Internal analysis conducted by GO Topeka supports that Topeka & Shawnee County will be one of the least likely communities to enter a significant recession as a result of COVID-19.

“Each metropolitan area has their own strengths in the form of industry grouping, availability of workforce, labor cost, etc.,” says Freddy Mawyin, research manager, GO Topeka. “The article cites Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s work, where he determines that five sectors are significantly more vulnerable to this pandemic.”

These five sectors are: mining/oil and gas, transportation, employment services, travel arrangements, and leisure and hospitality.

With that information, the researchers at the Brooking Institute ranked 382 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) in the U.S., determining that the Topeka MSA market is not as exposed to a possible recession due to COVID-19, relative to other MSAs in the country. Topeka’s MSA is ranked 346 out of 382, where #1 is the metro area most exposed, and #382 is the metro area least exposed. 

“GO Topeka has and continues to conduct workforce surveys to measure how COVID-19 could affect the labor market in Shawnee County and the city of Topeka. At this point, the results are, for the most part, positive,” says Mawyin. “Most of the larger industries, while concerned about the current economic situation, are not expecting to reduce their labor force or their level of production.”

“While it is important to know that we have a resilient industry mix in the region that could endure the impact of such an event, it is also important to know that almost 13,000 people are significantly exposed to a recession in our region,” continues Mawyin. “This is the time to support those industries and those workers that will be affected the most.”

GO Topeka and its parent organization, the Greater Topeka Partnership, encourage small businesses and industry employers, residents and visitors to visit SupportTopeka.com to access the latest resources available to them during the COVID-19 pandemic.