www.carthagepress.com/news/business/x1059919312 -
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Published on: 4/2/2008
Last Visited: 4/2/2008
Ron Pence, vice president of Arvest Bank, who accompanied Blunt on the tour of MSW, said the housing slump has hit this area, but other indicators point to an economy that is still growing.
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"It is not strong, but it is not slow at this particular point," Pence said."It is a fairly normal economy right now, the only thing that's probably out of the ordainary right now is housing.But you still see businesses investing in town, they're expanding, you see the casino bringing jobs in and all of that kind of stuff.The economy is still growing, but it's changing."
Pence said people are having trouble selling houses right now, but that would likely mean good things for hardware and home improvement companies as people work to improve the homes they will likely keep a little longer than expected.
He said the rising prices of fuel, food and medicine are taking a bite out of economic growth.
"Food is important, people know that that's something they have to have," Pence said.