How's our local economy doing...

It seems everyone believes our national economy is in a recession, but what about the economy in Warren and Washington Counties? Here's a couple of anecdotal comments from local business leaders that you may find interesting:
* Good news - one local attorney who specializes in residential mortgage closings had the exact same number of deals closed in 2007 as in 2006. His office is on pace in January 2008 to close as many new deals as he did in January of 2007 as well.
* Good news - one local hotel general manager says that pre-bookings for the spring and summer tourism season are on pace with the prior year which turned out to be quite good.
* Bad news - a local auto dealer recently indicated that 4 out of 10 incoming customers were turned away because they were unable to get financing.
* Good news - a local salesperson recently told the chamber that he had his best week ever right after the New Year. When asked if this was due to sales of "must have" products versus "optional-marketing" items, he indicated that it was 50/50. His sense is that local businesses are still buying the optional marketing items indicating that they are not reducing their discretionary expenses.