LANCASTER COUNTY

Lancaster County observers are expressing both concern and optimism about how the county's economy will fare in 2003.

Some economic development officials fear that the county's manufacturing industry could continue to stagnate. For example, 25 percent of county manufacturers recently surveyed by the Economic Development Company of Lancaster County said they expected no growth or a decline in sales during the next year.

"One of our biggest challenges is to make sure people recognize the importance of manufacturing to our economy," said Tom Baldrige, president of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "We need to be ever-vigilant to provide the services needed to keep manufacturers here and to attract new companies."

Much of the county's agriculture industry will suffer through 2003 if the drought continues, said Leon Ressler, director of the Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lancaster. Recent rainfall should not deceive anyone into thinking that the drought is over, he said.

But there are bright spots in Lancaster County's economic future, officials said. For example, construction of an $80 million convention center and hotel project is expected to start in March.

That should encourage people to either open or move businesses downtown, said Janis Beitzer, executive director of Lancaster Downtown Investment District Authority.

Wendy Nagle of the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau recently told the Business Journal that the convention center would contribute to the future success of county tourism. An effort to promote regional tourism will also help the county's economy, said Nagle, president of the East Lampeter Townshipbased bureau.

Lancaster County's diversity of industries has kept it relatively insulated from many of the economic problems affecting other parts of the country, said Sanjay Paul, an associate professor of economics at Elizabethtown College.

"Lancaster County is holding up," Paul said.