Highlights

• In Cortland County, there has been a decline in manufacturing and increase in the service industry over the years. (Tables EW-1 and EW-3)
   
• To be self-sufficient in Cortland County, would require an hourly salary of $19.49 for a single parent with 3 children. (Table EW-2)
   
• Cortland unemployment has consistently been higher than surrounding counties, the state and the country. (Table EW-6)
   
• There are fewer children on public assistance in Cortland County compared to Upstate NY, but more Cortland children receive food stamps. (Tables EW-8, EW-9)
   
• The overall DSS food stamp caseload has declined since 1994 but the number of meals served by various food pantries has increased. (Table EW-10 and EW-11)
   
• The budget for the Cortland County DSS has remained fairly constant over the past 6 years. The increase in 2000 relates to more work skills development grants. (Table EW-12)
   
• There are 245 full time farms in the county. One hundred and sixty-four are dairy farms; they milk 16,000 cows to produce 32.5 million gallons of milk each year. (Table EW-13, EW-14, EW-16)
   
• Map EW-1 shows Cortland median household income by zip code in relation to Central NY.
   
• There were 982 women owned businesses in Cortland in 1992. (Table EW-17)
   
• Table EW-18 gives the 1990 characteristics of the labor force. Table EW-19 gives the 1990 income and poverty status for the county. The 2000 data tables can be downloaded and inserted when they become available.

Back to top

The Ideal

Community residents in focus groups, community visioning, and surveys indicated their "ideal" conditions for themselves, their families and their community. For enhanced economic opportunities, Cortland County citizens say that they want:

• Flexible work hours
• Livable wages with benefits
• Work for all people at all skill levels
• New and environmentally friendly businesses
• Quality day care at worksites
• Adequate job training
• Good technical schools
• Welfare benefits phased out as support for job training increases
• Industries that can attract/keep those who are college educated
• A skilled professional workforce
• Work day and school day to conform to each other
• Jobs to attract/hold our young people
• Higher paying jobs
• More high tech jobs

Back to top

Significant Findings

Cortland County's economy lagged behind a robust national economy in the 1990s. Local job creation faltered just as the federal Welfare Reform Act of 1996 was enacted. This legislation put limits on the number of years a family could collect benefits. Still many families left welfare and entered the labor market

This county, not unlike the nation, experienced a decade of growth in service sector jobs and a decrease in manufacturing jobs. Between 1990 and 2000, there was a 60% decrease in goods-producing jobs in the county. The manufacturing jobs lost were generally higher paying jobs with benefits. The entry level service sector jobs that took their place were often part-time, minimum wage and without benefits. This made the transition from welfare to work difficult. Sometimes people with pre-existing health conditions found it hard to find jobs that had health benefits. The high medical costs for people with disabilities and/or serious medical problems caused some to quit their jobs in order to obtain Medicaid.

The new millennium has seen a renewed vigor in Cortland's economic development. In 2000, there was an infusion of $60 million in private sector investment in Cortland County (Borg Warner and Impact Sports). Also NYS invested $2 million in Cortland County for farmland protection.

Yet, the county unemployment rate still remains higher than those of contiguous counties and the state as a whole. People need to work and they need enough wages to support the basic necessities of life. The cost of living index as a method of measuring the adequacy of wages is, by most accounts, outdated. It measures the cost of common items in a food basket. This was a valid measure 40 years ago but the percent of family income spent on housing now far out-strips the percent spent on food. Minimum wage jobs cannot support a family or even an individual. A new movement is advocating a livable wage standard to evaluate the adequacy of wages. This new standard takes into account all of the costs of basic necessities by geographic area. It looks at how much a family needs to be self sufficient in order to maintain their health and human dignity. Table HW-2 shows those data for Cortland County.

Agriculture still plays a significant role in the county's economy, but there are increasingly fewer farms in the county. The total value of Cortland's agricultural products sold in 1997 was $37,447,000, a 15% decrease from the $43,204,000 in 1992. The county is known for its dairy industry. Milk sales account for 82% of the total value of agricultural products sold in the county from 164 dairy farms. There are 31,000 cows and calves in the county and 16,000 are involved in the production of 32.5 million gallons of milk per year. The number of sheep and cows is on the rise.

The Maple Festival brings merited attention to Marathon and the county's 15 local producers who are responsible for 3,725 gallons of maple syrup each year. Logging is also a large industry in the county.

Back to top

Indicators for the Economy, Employment and Welfare

Back to top

The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Cortland County, NY, 2000

Sources:

Pearce, Diana, The Self-Sufficiency Standard for New York, NYS Self-Sufficiency Standard Steering Committee, September 2000.

This monograph drew data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, NYS Office of Children and Family Services, USDA Low Cost Food Plan, US Census, Commerce Clearing House State Tax Handbook and other reliable source