DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO'S LOST HIS OR HER JOB?

There's no denying the fact that the country is in an economic downturn that is affecting both small and large businesses. It's hardly surprising, then, that a staggering 75% of this week's poll respondents claim to know someone who's lost their job recently. Ten percent of that were people who are now collecting unemployment themselves. The remaining quarter of our respondents claim not to know anyone who's recently received a pink slip. Ken Schier, managing partner of IS&L Architecture in Fair Lawn is one of that lucky minority. He talks about how his firm manages to remain successful, even in trying times:

"No, I don't know anyone who's lost their job. We read the papers and see that people are losing their jobs, although I don't know that New Jersey is being hit as hard as other areas. I read an article this morning that talked about how New Jersey was unique in that it doesn't have a large presence of sectors such as manufacturing and construction, where jobs are being lost nationally. We have employment in other sectors that aren't experiencing as much loss.

"Regionally, because we're tied in with New York, I don't think we're experiencing the downturn as badly as other areas. If you look at real estate prices as a benchmark for that, New York prices haven't really come down at all. Regionally, they've come down about 9%, but if you look at Miami, they've come down about 25% in the last year. That's indicative of the trend I'm talking about.