In Fredericksburg, Finding Employment Is Job One

Hard-Hit City Is Struggling For Development

As the recession closed in, economic development leaders in the job-starved city of Fredericksburg thought they had the perfect plan to solve their unemployment problem, which was threatening to become the worst in the region.

They were counting on an enormous $250 million indoor waterpark to bring flocks of tourists and employ many in the growing segment of low-skilled residents without college degrees who were out of work. The African-themed development, called Kalahari, would attract 500,000 visitors annually with its 125,000-square-foot waterpark, along with spas, mini golf, Ferris wheel and restaurants.

They had found a way, the development officials thought, to add 1,200 jobs as hundreds of others were being wiped out at retail shops, restaurants and construction sites.

But the recession brought a decline in spending along with the credit crunch. Kalahari has been indefinitely shelved. The unemployment rate in the year ending in April has nearly doubled to 9.4 percent, the highest in the Washington region. General Motors' decision last week to shutter its Fredericksburg Powertrain plant, where 82 people work, was another blow.

Unemployment in Fredericksburg, population 22,000, reached 10 percent in March. Though April's rate dropped slightly, the city still ranked No. 1 in joblessness among 22 Washington area cities and counties. The city's labor force is 13,000, which means that Kalahari theoretically could have almost single-handedly canceled out unemployment.

Though Fredericksburg had managed to attract a Wegmans supermarket and a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, it was not enough. Located on the southernmost edge of metropolitan Washington, the city was feeling the challenges playing out across the country as communities grapple with what type of jobs and industries are needed to replace the ones that may be gone for good.

"The reality is there are a lot of places like Fredericksburg around the country now," said Jeffrey Finkle, president and chief executive of the International Economic Development Council, an organization of economic development officials.

Everyone is looking for an industry that will bring 12,000 jobs, he added. "But those jobs are few and far between and it will be a little bit of a lot of things."

Many Fredericksburg residents are desperate for jobs: When the Courtyard hotel advertised 40 openings and Wegmans wanted to fill 500, the application pool in each case was more than 10 times the number of openings.

"We had a little over 6,500 people apply," said Sherri Villani, human resources manager at Wegmans. "It's unfortunate that there are that many people out there looking."

Among the lucky ones was Ian Farris, 31, of Fredericksburg, who landed a job at Wegmans as a night manager. Farris, who has no college education, said he was laid off from his supervisor job at Verizon in November.

"I was grateful" to find work, Farris said. Unfortunately, he added, his new job pays about half of what he earned at his old one. "In this economy, that's the way things are."