Trade Associations Are Shrinking With Economy: Area Trade Associations Are Shrinking Along with E...
Trade associations are shrinking with the recession after decades of being one of the Washington areaÛªs strongest and fastest-growing business sectors and the'cityÛªs third-largest employer.</br></br>As industries throughout the countryÛÓ auto, steel, housing; ' energyÛÓhave been hai^d-hit by the poor economy, their troubles have bepn mirrored in the operations of their umbrella organizations, many with headquarters in the District.</br></br>conferences, cuf hack on publications and travel, arid in1 some cases moved to' the suburbs, where leases and., land are cheaper and Where some' Idbhl governments have offered financial incenti^s'to'attract them.</br></br>ÛÏMctetjof thlfe^fr'acie associations are pull-said Duane fekedahl, vice . president and manager for Smith Bucklin and Associates in the . Washington area, which manages 75 associations. "There arenÛªt very many hiring today.Û</br></br>New. figures from the Washington Metropolitan Couhcit^bf Governments show that the decline in association employment here began in the late 1970s.