‘Economic Handicapper’ Predicts A Bright Future For Spokane Area

Only 16 percent of Spokanites believe they are “party animals,” a forecaster of demographics and the local economy told the Spokane Advertising Federation at a Wednesday luncheon.

In contrast, 30 percent were concerned about the erosion of traditional values. And 60 percent of Spokane County’s consumer market is composed of parents and “golden nesters” whose children have left home.

Those facts - along with a myriad of other psychological and demographic data of Spokane consumers - were presented to 600 Ad Club members by Shaun Higgins, director of marketing and sales for The Spokesman-Review. Higgins spoke at the club’s 12th annual economic forecast luncheon at the Washington State International Agricultural Trade Center.

Higgins, who called himself an “economic handicapper rather than an economist,” predicted an upbeat future for Spokane and the surrounding area in 1995. Income growth, retail sales and consumer confidence will all be up this year, he said.

Spokane County population should grow 2 percent in 1995 as outof-towners continue to migrate here, said Higgins, who compiled his data from dozens of published sources and university studies. By the end of the year, Spokane County’s population should exceed 400,000.

Although home sales declined slightly in 1994, Higgins predicted that home prices will increase 8 to 10 percent this year, and total sales of houses will also increase.

Higgins reviewed Spokane County’s economic growth in the past year, adding that unemployment was the lowest in 10 years and retail sales were up despite a downturn in the number of Canadian visitors.

“1994 was the best year in two decades,” he said. “Consumer spending even outdistanced consumer confidence.”

Despite his hourlong forecast chock full of pie charts, line graphs and percentages, Higgins emphasized that business owners and investors should rely on common sense and advice from the business community instead of economic statistics alone.

“Don’t believe anything that defies common sense,” Higgins said. “Forecasters bring best guesses to the table, but you have to decide whether it makes sense.”