September 21, 2001
Vol. 17, No. 39, Page 1
|
ATTACKS RATTLE BUSINESS ROUTINES
By Joel Berg, Staff Writer
Central Pennsylvanians stayed close to televisions and radios last week, as threats of war mounted in response to the deadly terrorist attacks. As the days dragged on, people found mundane tasks difficult to handle.
"I just was not motivated to make muffin batter last week," said Dennis Daugherty, 27, owner of a Big Apple Bagels franchise along Carlisle Pike in Hampden Township, Cumberland County.
It wasn't just baked goods that lost meaning compared to the horrible deaths caused by the attacks. A feeble economy, a flagging stock market and the billions of dollars sucked out of investor portfolios seemed to matter less and less as fires ravaged the doomed World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington.
As the semblance of normalcy returned, so did stock losses and nagging fears of recession. On the stock market's first day open after four days of silence, the Dow Jones industrial average swooned nearly 700 points.
 |
| The burning World Trade Center, New York City |
"We've lost basically a week and a half out of the economy, out of 52 weeks, and that's going to hurt," said Robert Sweet, chief economist for Allfirst Financial Inc., Baltimore.
For many, jump-starting the daily routine became an act of patriotism. "If we do not get back to business as usual, then they win," said Christian Malesic, co-owner of CM Squared, Inc., a lighting and electrical contractor based in Lower Paxton Township. He said the terrorists who attacked wanted massive disruptions.
Despite the calls for business as usual, the aftershocks worry economists. They fear that the uncertainty of war will lead consumers to cut back. "This is the most important part of the year, the holiday season," said Sweet of Allfirst. "The fourth-quarter retail sales will be down, travel will be down"
In anticipation, major airlines are slashing up to 20 percent of their schedules and laying off thousands of workers, acts that likely will push the national unemployment rate above 5 percent for the first time sine 1997.
New security measures, meanwhile, may make flying a less convenient option for busy executives used to jetting off at a moment's notice. Businesses that depend on air travel may have to combine trips or find new ways to meet, said Phil Hosmer, an Allfirst spokesman. Teleconferences might become a more common substitute for face-to-face meetings.
As the market grappled with the new reality and share prices plummeted, brokers and investment advisers warned their clients not to act rashly. The calming advice failed to sway everyone.
John Fabian, a broker in the Harrisburg office of Salomon Smith Barney Inc., said one client dumped about $600,000 worth of stocks on Monday. Most people held firm as their losses mounted. Fabian and others said Tuesday's attacks might only have hastened a market slide already in the making. With a bottom near, share prices could begin rising again.
Jeffrey Roof, owner of Roof Advisory Group Inc. in Camp Hill, said the market recovered quickly from earlier shocks, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the onset of the Gulf War in 1991. But before they focus on the economic issues, some businesses will spend more time dealing with the human side of the tragedies.
The Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., which has an office in Harrisburg, had almost 2,000 of its 57,000 employees in the World Trade Center. Many worked on floors 93 through 100 in the first tower hit. Other companies deal with a bear stock market and limited air travel options. Marsh is still trying to find more than 300 employees officially listed as missing. Two are confirmed dead.
"It's rough," said Jim Voltz, head of Marsh's Harrisburg office. "Everybody in this office knows of a friend or a colleague that was in that building." He declined to name anyone he knew until deaths were confirmed.
"We're trying to get back to normal like everybody else," he said. "We were glued to the TV from Tuesday morning on. Now, let's get back to normal, get things going. That's the best way we can honor our colleagues." Still, he said, it's hard to concentrate on the job at hand.
Even for those not immediately affected, the return to work wasn't an easy decision. Daugherty, who lives in Dallastown, Your County, almost closed Big Apple on Wednesday. "We were a little concerned about (Three Mile Island) being so close," he said.
Daugherty reopened anyway and felt he had to do something about the tragedy. So he began offering free bagels and coffee to anyone giving blood.
To raise money for the families of policemen and firefighters in New York, he began donating $1 for every baker's dozen bagels sold and every value meal: a sandwich, chips and a medium soft drink. He also set out jars to accept donations to the American Red Cross.
Daugherty, who once interned at a brokerage, would have bought stock as a further gesture. But his 3-year-old business does not yet allow the extra expense. He takes home $20,000 a year and lives with his parents to save money.
Daugherty said he had raised about $210 by September 17, including a $20 bill from Roof, the local investment adviser, who was moved by Daugherty's efforts.
"It just sort of reaffirmed some of my belief that the American people, in times of need, have resolution, resolve and compassion that, in a day-to-day environment, we don't get to see," Roof said. "It's reassuring."
Last week, some businesses didn't place the big lunch orders that Daugherty was used to filling. Walk-in traffic was plentiful, if somber. "I don't think I saw one bright smiling face walk through the door on Wednesday," said Daugherty, who is accustomed to joking with his regulars. "Day to day, and then by the weekend, I think a lot of people started getting back to their usual selves again." By Friday, Daugherty could concentrate on mixing batter. "In this business, you can only use certain things as an excuse or a crutch for so long," he said.
Still, he said, "I think this is something that is going to stick with everybody for a long time."
<-- Back to Press
|
|
|
 |
