Oct. 27--We look and listen with optimism as, almost every day, someone hints, suggests or declares flat-out that the recession has bottomed and the economy is slowly but surely on its way to whatever the new normal is going to be.

And, most of us feel pretty good about that.

Then, we get another kick in the shins -- nothing as swift and as hard as some 900 folks losing their jobs at Dell five miles up U.S. 311 and High Point Road in Winston-Salem -- with economic conditions forcing Valspar to close a paint manufacturing operation at 1647 W. English Road by the end of November. About 30 Valspar employees will lose their jobs -- in addition to the 30 workers who lost jobs when J. Butler's at Wendover Landing closed earlier this month. That's not a large number compared to some recent layoffs in the Triad, but mighty significant, just the same, to those 60 people.

Fortunately, two other Valspar locations -- at 2137 Brevard Road and 1717 W. English Road -- will remain in operation.

This is not a doom-and-gloom editorial. It is, however, a reminder that, while some of us may experience some of the improvement in conditions that economists and other seers are citing, others still are having difficulty coping.

Last week's announcement by Valspar should serve as one more example for giving as much as you can to this year's United Way of Greater High Point fundraising campaign. The recession has helped increase demands on almost all nonprofits in the area and they need a steady flow of charitable funds, not only to enhance the services they provide for the community, but to maintain a constant level of service to those in need.

Who knows? You may be the next person to require services from a United Way-affiliated agency.

-----

To see more of the High Point Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hpe.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, High Point Enterprise, N.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NASDAQ-NMS:DELL, NYSE:VAL,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.