BEAUFORT COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – Eastern Carolinians met in Beaufort County Thursday to discuss the national debt and ways to move forward as a state and as a county.
Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce joined Rick Niswander, and ECU Processor Emeritus in Accounting, to discuss the steps forward to a better economy.
The country has been too generous with benefits, and too stingy with tax rates, according to Niswander, which is what led the U.S. to the national debt it has today.
He says there’s no easy fix, and that political parties have to put aside differences to tackle the problem together.
“It cannot be done solely by cutting expenses,” Niswander told WITN. “It cannot be done solely by raising taxes. It has to be both, and political parties in D.C. have to come to grips with that.”
However, Niswander says the economy has been improving, with employment rates in Eastern Carolina steadily rising since the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Niswander believes the economy will start to slow down again through 2025 and into 2026 and hopes the economy can weather uncertainties, like changes in tariffs and taxes.
“I think in the short term, those things are going to tend to hurt the economy,” he says. “In the medium or long term, they might be beneficial. The question is, how long that’s going to be and whether we have the nerve.
Niswander says both Beaufort County and Pitt County are among some of the most resilient counties in Eastern Carolina, which means they are able to handle economic struggle and still bounce back.
The Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Katherine Glover says the county’s economics have always been stable.
“Our job market is strong. We’ve always been pretty consistent with the job market here in Beaufort County,” Glover says. “We feel like we’re vibrant, and we’re continuing to grow.”
Niswander says economic resiliency is largely based on a vibrant population within counties, and an overall drop in Eastern Carolina population may contribute to setbacks, according to Niswander.
He says uncertainties in the economy might slow progression for a while, but he doesn’t foresee economic decrease.
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