Earlier this year I blogged about how it felt like Durham (and the Triangle) was bucking the recession. Yesterday the News and Observer wrote this piece about how more and more of the area's more prominent employers, including McKinney, have been doing something few companies have been doing in the last 16+ months: hiring.

McKinney is featured throughout the article, which also gives advice to job seekers.  CEO Brad Brinegar and new hires Lyn Johnson (Acct. Director) and Will Dean (Art Director) are quoted, but what you might not see in the online version is a nice, big shot of Will and his famous, healthy, growing head of hair (see below), which is emblematic of what we've witnessed at the agency this year.

I bet that you, like me, have been hearing a lot of people question whether the economy is truly recovering amid continuing struggling nationwide unemployment numbers.  But for the first time, I'm starting to hear not just about workers looking for employment, but also employers looking for workers.

My wife's uncle said this past weekend that the shipping company he works for in the Norfolk, VA, area actually is struggling to fill hundreds of skilled labor positions.  And the N&O lists Allscripts-Misys, Bayer CropScience, ChannelAdvisor, Cree, Deutsche Bank,Elster, EMC, Novartis, Talecris and Time Warner Cable as more companies looking for workers. 

I'm glad to know the local economy is starting to rebound, and I hope it's a sign of things to come for the rest of the country.