Livelihood & Commerce 6.0: Introduction

The Vineyard economy is largely driven by its vacationers – second home owners and visitors – who bring significant economic activity to the Island. Hospitality (food and accommodations), retail, construction, and real estate are the four key industries that make up more than half of the Island’s overall economy.  We need to keep this part of the economy robust, vital, and responsive to changing needs. 

At the same time, a more diverse and stronger year-round economy would be good for the Island’s residents.  Greater diversity and economic self-reliance means that the Vineyard economy can remain strong as we face the challenges of a global economic recession, climate change, peak oil, and globalization. 

The natural beauty and history of the island are matched by the great diversity of its community.   Protecting and building on the Island’s natural resources, environment, and cultural heritage is key to sustaining both the seasonal and year-round economy of Martha’s Vineyard.

From winter to summer, it is estimated that the population swells from 15,000 to 75,000. The number of jobs grows from 6,101 to 10,463 (2007 figures from the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development), plus an estimated 3,300 self employed individuals (2006 figures reported by the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Economic Analysis).  ). Unemployment typically drops from 7% to 2%, though the unemployment rate surpassed 11% this past winter. The Vineyard is remarkable in that more than 70% of Island businesses employ between 1 and 4 employees and most are locally owned. Tourist-related sectors (retail, accommodation and food service, arts, recreation, and entertainment) represent 39% of employment (2005) but only 31% of wages. Construction accounts for 9% of jobs and 13% of wages.

The economic approaches which might help to strengthen and balance the economy are to:

·  Bolster the existing vacation-based economy, especially supplying services to second-home owners;

·  Encourage more Island spending (reduce economic leakage) to foster greater circulation of money within the community (increase economic multipliers);

·  Support local ownership ; when those who are conducting commerce are deeply connected to the community they tend to have community interests at heart;

·  Substitute imports through local production, especially of such essentials as food and energy;

·  Stimulate local investment;

·  Increase year-round jobs with living wages;

·  Optimize self-reliance, so that we become less dependent on distant forces and events;

·  Promote a greater diversity of off-season activity, more fully utilizing our historic character and environmental attributes;

·  Create a robust environment for lifetime learning;

·  Incentivize economic behaviors that protect, restore, and celebrate our environment.

The Vineyard will benefit from a diverse and prosperous year-round economy that enhances our community and environment, that respects our character and history, and that understands that although we are an Island we are also part of the larger world. 

Note that in this section, even more than the others, the various objectives are highly interrelated, and many strategies will help achieve several objectives.

(Please refer to two studies carried out by the Island Plan, which served as a basis for the analysis and recommendations in this section: the Economic Profile of Martha's Vineyard by John Ryan, and the Leakage Analysis of the Martha's Vineyard Economy Study by Michael H. Shuman and Donald Hoffer.)