In Chantilly, Bush Asks Americans to Stay Calm in Financial Crisis

By Fredrick Kunkle

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

A family-run office-supply business in Northern Virginia became the backdrop yesterday for an economic pep talk by President Bush as he sought to calm markets and restore public confidence amidst a deepening global crisis.

Bush went to Guernsey Office Products in Chantilly to explain to the nation his administration's efforts to restore order to the credit markets. Before making his pitch, however, he met privately with a small group of business leaders who told him about problems they have encountered since credit began drying up.

Several urged him to be more visible and take charge in restoring confidence, a participant said.

David M. Guernsey, president and chief executive of the Chantilly-based firm, described Bush as a "take-charge guy" during a private meeting with about 10 area business people.

"He said: 'Open it up, guys. Just ask me whatever.' And so we did," Guernsey said. Participants asked questions about Bush's "visibility."

"And he was so positive in that room," Guernsey said. "And several of the people said, 'You know what, Mr. President, go out there and say that to the American people. The way you are here, that certainty, that resolve — project that out.' And he did that at the podium. He was very forceful in that sense."

Bush reassured the group that his administration was taking control of the crisis, a message he repeated minutes later in public.

"I know that small businesses like Guernsey around the nation are feeling the impact of the financial crisis," Bush said, adding that he welcomed the chance to talk about how to get this economy back on track. "There's no question times are tough. There's no question America will emerge. But we've got some work to do, and that's what I'm going to share with you."

The question is whether anyone was listening — and if they were, whether his words mattered — as a couple of hours later Wall Street stocks again plummeted. Even some listeners in the overwhelmingly friendly audience were uncertain.

"I took away from it that this was a big step for him to make this intervention and try to do something for our economy, which I do think is in terrible shape," Penny Walburn of Ashburn said.

Walburn, a chief financial officer with Velsor Properties, said the credit meltdown has her worrying about her 13- and 16-year-old children's college tuition funds. She also said that she had taken bids from contractors on a remodeling project she began this summer but has put that on hold.

"I think it all started with the housing industry, and it filtered down into the economy, and I think something did need to be done to stop the bleeding, and I think that's what they tried to do. And showing confidence in it is a very important thing right now, or the American people are not going to buy into it," Walburn said. "I don't know that I'm ready to run out and, you know, start borrowing money."

Bush dropped by Guernsey to hear from members of the business community, take questions from a friendly audience of employees and rouse Americans with a message that help is on the way. Standing behind a podium in a cinderblock warehouse stocked to the rafters with reams of paper and other office supplies, Bush explained his rationale for backing a $700 billion rescue package for the credit markets and urged Americans to stay calm and even do a little shopping.

"There's no doubt that people from all walks of live and all aspects understand that we're having serous times," Bush said. "Families are squeezed by the high price of gasoline, feeling the pinch of food prices. . . . Workers are anxious about whether their paychecks will stretch; some workers are anxious about whether or not they're going to keep their jobs. We also know that we're living in the most dynamic economy in the world, that we've been through tough times before, and we're going to come through this time again."

Guernsey said in an interview that sales remain healthy for such office supplies and break room products as coffee, but the market for such big ticket items as furniture has dried up. Customers who were planning to invest in office furniture blamed nonexistent or tightening credit for reconsidering deals, he said.

"It's going to take some time to see if this really works," Walburn said. "I think a lot of people are going to sit back and watch what's happening. I think it's going to be a rough period with the holidays coming up, and I think a lot of businesses are not going to make it through that because this is a time when Americans spend. ... People like myself, they just want to see if this plan is going to work. It's not going to work in six months, I don't think. It's not going to work in a year. We dug this hole over a period of years, and it's going to take a number of years to get back out of it."

Tagged: business, Chantilly, Economy, Small Business

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