Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of 5 in a series examining the effects of the recession in the Austin community

You see the numbers, read the data and hear the daily doom-and-gloom report: Minnesota’s unemployment rate has hit 8.1 percent; southeast Minnesota job-seekers outnumber job openings 6 to 1; jobless claims nationwide set a record for the eighth straight week.

But how is Austin faring?

Local retailers say they are cutting back, but not all is lost. In fact, some are seeing a slow but sure increase in sales.

Restaurants report business is down, but not dismal.

Even churches — where public giving is essential to their operations — are receiving continued generosity from congregations.

Joe Lenway, general plant manager at International Paper, summed it up best: “In a nutshell, we are feeling the pinch like everybody else,” he said.

Faith in the people

When people are at a low point in their lives, they often turn to their churches for guidance. But when the economy is down in the dumps, the churches may need to turn to their people.

“We’re down, but it doesn’t keep us from asking,” Father Joe Fogal said. “I think the temptation for a lot of organizations is to say, ‘People have lost a lot of money, so we should back off on requests from people.’”

As priest at St. Edward and St. Augustine Catholic parishes in Austin, Fogal said the recession “does not seem to take away the generosity in people’s hearts.”

“Collection is about the same — we rely most heavily on our weekly offertory collection,” Fogal reported. However, bequests are not as common anymore.

“We haven’t in the past years received much in terms of bequests or wills from people,” he said. “People aren’t remembering us in their will.”

When a boiler or stairs or roof needs repairs, the parishes use bequests to take pay those bills.

Although weekly collection remains stable, that does not mean the churches don’t feel the trickle-down effects. Fogal said with the number of employees the Catholic churches have in the parishes and school, the cost of insurance has gone up.

“Priests in the diocese aren’t taking raises,” he said. “Most have voted to not get a raise.”

At St. Olaf Lutheran Church, senior Pastor Ron Barnett said that in general, they are “OK.”

“I think our biggest impact I think has to do with the stock market and the people who have equity investments, and those are down,” he explained. “They tend to hang on to those.”

“Other than that, I think our overall offering continues to maintain,” Barnett said.

The pastor said attendance is steady, but the obligation to present an offering when strapped for cash may prevent some from stepping foot inside the church.

“I think sometimes people may have a tendency to stay away for fear that maybe they cannot financially contribute as much as they would like,” Barnett said.

Some church members are seeking support from their church to deal with the everyday stress.

“I have recently seen an increase in counseling, people coming in struggling in their personal relationships,” Barnett said. “Not so much coming in for economic financial support.”

One Austin church even reported that monetary giving has actually increased.

“We ended up being up about 9 percent in our general giving (in 2008),” said Pastor Dave Simerson of Cornerstone Church. “We were very glad for it considering the statistics that the average church was down 20 percent in general giving.”

Simerson said at Cornerstone, an Assemblies of God church, they encourage 10 percent tithing in its congregation of about 500.

“We thank Jesus when he says put the kingdom of God first and he’ll take care of all your needs,” Simerson said. “We feel that God is going to meet all our needs according to his supply.”

Hanging in there

Some Austin businesses say they are not filling positions or are cutting expenses in other ways, but are moving forward into spring with a mostly positive attitude.

“International Paper has felt the pinch just like anyone else,” Lenway said. A number of its plants nationally have closed, but in Austin, they are holding their own. The company bought the manufacturing plant, which employs about 135, from Weyerhauser last August.

“It hasn’t really affected us locally,” the plant manager said. “We have not laid off anybody. Actually, the outlook for the Austin plant is pretty stable.”

Restaurants often see business pick up as the weather warms this time of the year, and The Old Mill is expecting 2009 to be no different.

“We’ve been doing fairly well,” owner Dave Forland said. “April 15 turns the light switch on.”

“Obviously, we’ve tried to reorganize and cutback,” he said. “Food costs, in my opinion, they have come down more than they have. Breads are kind of double what they have been.”

The Old Mill, which employs 18, has not laid off any staff, he said.

At the Austin Country Club, membership is up, but food and beverage sales are down.

“Actually, we’re doing pretty good,” general manger Bill Budion said of its membership. “I don’t know if I can attribute that to the economy.”

A marketing plan for membership last fall brought in new people, he said. The country club may open for golfing next week, a little sooner than its average date of April 7.

“We haven’t laid anybody off, but we haven’t replaced people — we’ve just stayed status quo,” Budion said. “Most of our seasonal staff are coming back.”

Making better choices

Spring is officially underway, and that means income for specialty businesses like Island Pool & Spa.

“It is down, for me to say anything else is a lie,” owner Tim Wiersma said during the Austin Home & Vacation Show Friday. “We are hanging in there. I need the economy to come back around.”

Island has been banking on continued service and supplies to its customers after sales, but more customers have also stopped in during the past few weeks than in the last few months.

“I told them I’m going to be there to service them,” the owner said. “I’m pretty committed to that.”

Wiersma believes the country is in a “new era” of consumerism where people think more about quality and purpose than just slapping down plastic for a quick and cheap purchase.

“They are asking better questions,” he said. “I think we are going to be more reluctant. Consumers are going to become better consumers because of this. I think we are getting away from throwaway quality.”

Jason Weis, owner of Weis Landscaping & Design of Rose Creek, said customers are more “quality-driven.”

“Last year was our best year sales-wise we’ve ever had,” Weis said at the Home Show Friday afternoon. “It takes a little more to get those jobs. You don’t just throw down your design anymore and they approve it.”

Weis will employ seven staff this season; last year they had 10. He is also cutting back on pre-ordering material.

More customers are spending time at home than taking vacations — a benefit for his business as people work on yard and garden projects.

“It’s starting to pick up,” he said. “Outlook right now is, I’m looking to have another good year.”

Weis said he believes there are too many “scare tactics” now about the economy.

“I don’t know if it’s as bad out there (for some) as it is for others,” he said.