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Credit Crunch Slows Economy

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - The showroom and parking lot of Wesley Chapel Nissan are quiet places these days.

"Sales have stopped," general manager Mike Kane said Thursday, just days after several major automakers reported big losses.
Doom and gloom in the national financial picture have people in Pasco County sitting on their hands at a time of the year when car sellers usually make some of their biggest profits - the fall transition between model years.

Along Wesley Chapel's auto row - that stretch of Wesley Chapel Boulevard/State Road 54 on either side of Interstate 75 - car sellers are trying to stay upbeat even as their stocks of cars sit mostly idle.

"Almost everybody on this street did half of what they normally do in September," said Arthur Banks, general manager of Precision Kia, quickly exempting his own dealership from that assessment.

All of which is too bad, said Kane, echoing the sentiment of others who rely on loan-making for a living. That's because, despite tales of frozen credit markets nationally, there's still money to lend.

"I have not had a single bank tell me they're cutting back on anything," Banks said. "We haven't seen a change in the availability of money. What we're seeing is a shortage of customers."

Those who do brave the credit markets these days will find themselves under more scrutiny, however.

"We're diving into people's credit a little deeper and a little harder," Kane said.

The tightening national credit markets may also be giving cold feet to companies that might otherwise consider expanding or moving to Pasco, said Mary Jane Stanley, president of the Pasco Economic Development Council.

"We didn't have as many projects as last year, which is a sign of the economy," Stanley said last week.

Unemployment in Pasco is closing in on 8 percent, Stanley told her board last month.

Not all Pasco manufacturers are hurting, however.

The owners of Vortex Racing, a Gunn Highway firm that makes motorcycle parts, are heading to Germany this money to pitch their wares at one of the world's biggest automotive trade shows.

While sales are lower than expected this year, the strength of the Euro has made American-made products look like bargains overseas, said Vortex president Matt Griffin.

Frugality also is paying off for Vortex, Griffin said. The company used the profits from selling its former building in the West Pasco Industrial Park to pay off debt from its recent expansion.

"We don't use lines of credit," Griffin said.

At Patriot Bank, a Trinity-based community bank, the balance sheet remains strong as its larger competitors - Wachovia Corp. and Washington Mutual among them - fall under the weight of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Patriot avoided the exotic financial deals that have undone other banks, said bank president Larry Starnes, the former head of Wachovia's Pasco division.

"Because we're in a solid situation, we see this as an opportunity for us," Starnes said. "We still have money to lend."

Signs in front of Patriot Bank offices in Trinity and at Ridge and DeCubellis roads in New Port Richey pitch the bank as "a safe and secure place for your money."

"We're doing everything we can to promote that," Starnes said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How is Pasco's economy affecting you? Submit a letter to the editor, no more than 150 words, and include your name, where you're from and a phone number. Send your thoughts to:

Letters to the Editor

38112 15th Ave., Zephyrhills FL 33542

E-mail submissions to

jscullin@tampatrib.com or mmccoy@tampatrib.com.

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