Aug. 8--Hotel, entertainment and retail business along the Grand Strand will continue to see slow growth through the rest of 2008 and 2009, but it will continue to grow, according to projections from a local economist given this morning.

Don Schunk, a research economist with Coastal Carolina University, is making a presentation this morning at the annual Growth Summit attended by hundreds of business and university leaders from Georgetown, Horry and Brunswick counties.

Despite rampant belief, the United States has not had an official recession, Schunk said.

"The growth that we're going to see for the next year to two years is going to be below average growth," he said of the national economy.

Woody Hall, an economist from University of North Carolina at Wilmington, said there was a one in three chance for a recession in North Carolina.

John Allison, the chairman and CEO of BB&T bank, will speak later this morning.

Read a full preview of this morning's summit.

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Story Source: The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)