Kings County Economic Development Corp. officials are working hard to portray Kings County in a positive light, as California's economy continues to struggle.

A 2008-2009 economic report issued last week states that Kings County is "resisting the effects of the current recession."

The report quotes statistics reported by msnbc.com that listed Kings County among only 23 population areas in the U.S that in May weren't "contracting as severely as six months ago."

It's not clear how msnbc.com, which calls the report an "adversity index," separated out the 23 areas from 381 areas nationwide.

The most current msnbc.com numbers show Kings County in recession along with the rest of California. The last time the county wasn't in recession was in November 2008, before the unemployment rate started to really climb, according to msnbc.com.

But local officials say Kings County has better economic indicators than other San Joaquin Valley counties.

John Lehn, CEO of Kings EDC, said that the msnbc.com numbers support the idea that "government and agricultural [employment] will continue to hold us on a relatively flat line compared to many other economies in California."

The EDC report notes that Kings County has improved its unemployment ranking. According to the state Employment Development Department, 40 of California's 58 counties had lower unemployment rates than Kings County in September. Kings had been closer to the bottom in previous rankings. All San Joaquin Valley counties except for Kern were worse off than Kings.

Taxable sales have increased in Kings County faster than population growth from 2002 to 2008, the report said. Numbers for 2009 weren't available.

The report also mentioned expansions at Leprino Foods that added 240 employees, a new JG Boswell Co. tomato processing plant last year that employs 130 people and the 2008 opening of Lowe's in Hanford.

However, during the same period of time, several businesses closed, most prominently Gottschalks and Mervyn's, leaving 435 workers unemployed and sending "shock waves through the local economy," according to Janet Long, EDC board chair.

This was somewhat balanced out by the Leprino expansions, the opening of Lowe's and Forever 21's decision to open in the old Gottschalks space, which added a combined 350 new jobs, Long said.

Officials continue to credit Lemoore Naval Air Station with helping to prop up Kings County's economy. According to a recent LNAS report, the base accounted for more than 12,000 jobs in 2008 and contributed $654 million to the local economy. The base's economic contribution to Kings County ranked third behind agriculture and the combined input of state/local government, according to Melinda Larson, LNAS spokeswoman.

And the base's contribution isn't diminishing in the economic downturn.

Capt. James Knapp, the commanding officer at LNAS, said that all military members on the base recently received a 3.4 percent pay raise.   

"For this kind of recession, you would have to say that this industry [LNAS] is recession proof," Knapp said.

"I've been in for 25 years. I don't remember not getting a pay raise. What other company can you lay that claim on?" he said, adding that "Obviously, the taxpayer believes that the nation's defense is a primary responsibility of the national government."

No other San Joaquin Valley county has anywhere near as big a military base as LNAS, Lehn said. Merced County "still hasn't recovered" from the closure of Castle Air Force Base in 1995, Lehn said.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2432.

(Nov. 7, 2009)