ASSOCIATED PRESS 100 years young · showed a sixth-straight month of healthy 200,000-plus gains. Yet for Douglas Hunter and millions like him, happy days aren’t quite here again.

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Section D • The Columbus Dispatch • Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014

Astute Solutions delivers customer service / D2Craft brewers looking across the pond / D4

Protect your number from identity thieves / D8

WASHINGTON — The U.S.unemployment rate hasplunged since the start of lastyear to 6.2 percent. And the Julyjobs report released Fridayshowed a sixth-straight monthof healthy 200,000-plus gains.

Yet for Douglas Hunter andmillions like him, happy daysaren’t quite here again.

Hunter earned $14 an hourcleaning oil drums before theGreat Recession seized theeconomy and his job was axed.At 53, Hunter now works threedays a week for $9.25 an hour,mopping floors and fixingfryers at two McDonald’s res-taurants in Chicago.

“If the economy is gettingbetter, I’m not sure for whom,”he said. “It certainly hasn’t trickled down to me.”

Jobs & the economy

Economicrecovery?Many notfeeling itBy Josh Boak and Christopher S. RugaberASSOCIATED PRESS

See Recovery Page D3

Game Plan is a monthlyguide to help you manage themonth ahead.

BUY IT NOWHeat relief: Even though

August is famous for the hu-midity it adds to the heat, atleast there is this: This month isthe end of air-conditioningseason, which means retailerswill be putting units on sale.

Consumer Reports offers agood tip: Look for models thatexceed federal Energy Starstandards. Oh, and anyone whowants to get rid of that stickyfeeling in the house shouldremember that this is also themonth in which dehumidifiersgo on sale.

Packing it in: August hap-

Big salesto be had,much foodto be eatenDISPATCH BUSINESS STAFF

See Game Plan Page D4

Construction ZoneGame PlanMade HereRetail Watch

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Sundays in Business

BizExtras

In 1914, Ohio StateUniversity Exten-sion agents wentfarm to farm,

quelling concernsabout cattle and crops.

These days, the wide-ranging agency is justas likely to coach land-owners about land-scape plantings orwhat to look for in thefine print of a shale-drilling lease as it is totalk about cows.

The Extension’s ability tochange is key as it celebrates100 years of service. Leadersare using the anniversary asan opportunity to reflect onthe past and plan the Exten-sion’s next 20 years, even as itconfronts staffing and fund-ing concerns.

“Extension is a living orga-nism,” said Bruce McPheron,the OSU vice president whooversees the organization.“Sometimes, to some people,it seems like kind of an elder-ly living organism. But itactually is very vital. We con-tinue to ... adapt as newquestions emerge.”

Established by the federalSmith-Lever Act in 1914, theExtension was charged with

100 years youngAfter a century, the Ohio State Extension programcontinues to offer relevant, helpful advice to Ohioans

LOGAN RIELY DISPATCH PHOTOS

Horticulture expert Adriaan Gillissen of Scotland checks out the flowers planted outside Kott-man Hall that are dedicated to the centennial of the Ohio State University Extension program.

By Jim RyanTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Flowers bloom outside Kott-man Hall in celebration of

the Extension program.

See Extension Page D3

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� THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH BUSINESS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2014 D3

educating the public. Throughthe years, it became known asa resource for unbiased, re-search-based information forfarmers and as the sponsor ofcounty 4-H programs foryouths.

But as early as the 1980s, theExtension began to shift fromits rural roots to work in citiesas well, said McPheron, vicepresident and dean for agricul-tural administration in OSU’sCollege of Food, Agriculturaland Environmental Sciences.

The Extension has sincedeveloped programs rangingfrom urban farming to fi-nancial literacy for those inhighly populated areas, saidJulie Fox, leader for urbanoutreach program Extension inthe City.

The 1990s was a time ofgrowth, as federal, state andlocal funding increased theOSU Extension’s portfolio ofprograms in both rural andurban areas, Extension leaderssay. The Extension received$70.3 million in funding in2001, which exceeds the 2013budget by more than $26 mil-lion when adjusted for in-flation.

At its highest point duringthe 1990s, the OSU Extensionhad more than 300 educatorsspread throughout the state,said Keith Smith, the Exten-sion’s director of 22 years.Now, according to the Exten-sion’s personnel directory, ithas 224.

He said, however, that thestatewide Extension is faringbetter now than it has in yearspast, having hired 60 employ-ees in 2013. The Extension wasable to do so, officials say,because of money set asidefrom a prior early retirementincentive.

Extension officials believeenergy, water, and food growthand preservation issues will beof particular interest in thenext 20 years, said GregoryDavis, an Extension assistantdirector of community devel-opment.

With that in mind, the Ex-tension has created programsto fit those growing needs.

One of them, Energize Ohio,provides information aboutfracking. It teaches landownershow to interpret shale-drillingleases, tackle eminent domainissues and handle suddenwealth, in addition to helpingthem weigh environmentalconcerns, such as possiblegroundwater contamination.

“We try to provide the bestinformation to the citizens outthere that are involved with(fracking) and then we turnaround and say, ‘You make thedecision,’ ” Smith said.

Kenneth Martin, associatedirector of programs for theOSU College of Food, Agricul-tural and Environmental Sci-ences, said the program hasreached an audience of morethan 20,000 since its fall 2010inception.

The shale energy boom, hesaid, might continue for 20 or

more years.Such new efforts mean other

programs are being scrapped. Davis’ department — which,

in simple terms, aims to makefolks happier, healthier andwealthier — has reduced staff-ing by about 50 percent sincethe 1990s. So now there arefewer Extension employeesthroughout Ohio working withcommunity leaders to, forexample, better define what it

takes to be a township officialor bolster an area economy.

“Part of our issue is, to behonest, we’re spread so thinthat we’re barely meetingneeds now,” he said. “So we dowhat we can.

“The things that we do ad-dress, we can really addresswell,” Davis said. “The prob-lem is, there’s a whole lot ofthings that we’re not address-ing now.

“We have to ask ourselves,ultimately, I think, down theroad what we want to be.”

Extension officials expectthe agency to become moreWeb-savvy and rely more ononline resources such asQ&As, webinars and factsheets to get information tothe public, keeping it relevant.

Smith said the informationthe Extension seeks to provideis always changing, making it“more of a challenge” thanever to keep up.

“It’s just like your iPhone,every six months they’ve got anew one. It’s the same thingwith information we put out.”

But McPheron said Exten-sion officials are trying to findthe sweet spot between onlineand in-person interaction asthe agency surpasses the cen-tury mark.

After all, some questions arebetter answered in person.

Richard Jensen, owner ofFlying J farms in LickingCounty, said that he queriedthe Extension recently aboutthe death of four of his cowsand his theory on why thatmight have happened.

The Extension, he said,pointed him in the right direc-tion and offered to come outto his pasture soon to check itout. Jensen said he has alsoused the Extension to test hissoil.

“Whenever there’s a prob-lem, they say, ‘Call Exten-sion,’ ” said Jensen, 71. “That’swhat we do.”

The exercise to consider theExtension’s next two decades,McPheron said, is about build-ing resilience.

“The magic of what Exten-sion accomplished is thatsmart people looked at realproblems and said, ‘We canhelp you figure that out.’ Weneed to propagate that way ofthinking.”

[email protected]@Jimryan015

CHRIS RUSSELL DISPATCH

Ohio State University Extension horticulturist Brad Bergefurd shows off newly planted hops binethat could reach 17 feet tall. When harvested, the plant might be used by craft brewers.

ExtensionFROM PAGE D1

$37.1

$39.0

$40.2

$41.0

$43.2

$46.6

$49.3

$58.9

$56.1

$57.9

$66.7

$70.3

$68.8

$68.7

$68.1

$70.0

$69.0

$70.4

$70.1

$68.9

$66.8

$68.2

$65.5

$66.5

$66.1

$66.6

$66.7

$66.0

$67.8

$71.2

$73.2

$85.5

$80.2

$80.9

$90.2

$92.5

$89.0

$87.0

$84.0

$83.5

$79.7

$79.0

$75.9

$74.8

$71.4

$70.6

$66.4

$66.5

0FY $20 $40 $60 $80 TOTALTOTAL ADJUSTEDFOR INFLATION

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

MILLIONS

OSU Extension fundingThe Ohio State University Extension’s budget has fallen since a peak in 2001.

Federal State County Other

FUNDING SOURCE

Source: Ohio State University Extension

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The Gallup Organization hasfound that consumers’ view ofthe economy is the glummestit’s been in seven months.

As the economic recoveryenters its sixth year, a numberof factors help explain whymany Americans don’t feelbetter off: Income hasn’t re-bounded. Millions are workingpart time even though theywant full-time jobs. It’s takinglonger to find work. Many stillstruggle with mortgage debt.And most don’t feel free tospend as much as they used to.

Lagging incomeMost people are still earning

less, adjusted for inflation,than before the recessionstruck at the end of 2007. Evenmany who kept their jobsthrough the recession — oreasily found work after beinglet go — are no better off. Thetypical family income is aninflation-adjusted $52,959,according to Sentier Research.That’s $3,303 less than beforethe recession — a nearly 6 per-cent drop.

A review by Wells Fargofound that after-tax income fellfor the bottom 20 percent ofearners and barely rose for thenext-highest 20 percent duringthe recovery.

“Wages are just not keepingup,” said Christine Owens,executive director of the Na-tional Employment Law Pro-ject. “We don’t have an econo-my that is as robust as we needit to be.”

Fewer full-time jobsFinding steady full-time

work has become harder.There are 27.4 million part-time jobs, representing 18.8 percent of jobs in the U.S.,according to the Labor Depart-ment. Before the recession,16.5 percent of jobs were parttime.

Some of this increase isbecause of the still-sluggishrecovery: Employers want tocut costs and payrolls by limit-ing their workers to fewer than35 hours a week. But the trendmight also reflect a lasting shiftamong restaurants and coffeeshops, said John Silvia, chiefeconomist at Wells Fargo.

“A lot of companies havefigured out that they didn’tneed employees to sell coffeebetween 2 and 4 p.m. thatnobody is buying,” Silvia said.

Employers slow to hireThe “Help Wanted” signs are

out: There were 4.6 millionavailable jobs in May, accord-ing to government data, themost in seven years and 20 per-cent more than a year ago. Yetnot enough of those jobs arebeing filled.

University of Chicago econo-mists calculated that it took anaverage of more than 25 daysfor employers to fill a vacantjob in May. That was up froman average of 22.5 days lastyear and is the longest suchfigure in the 13 years that thedata have been tracked.

Recovery FROM PAGE D1