This is part of a series of personal accounts about small business and the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content.

by Shirley Thagard

The president of a northern Idaho Chevrolet dealership said she's not particularly nervous about the closing of almost 1,200 General Motors dealerships.

That's because Eve Knudtsen, the third-generation president of the family-owned Knudtsen Chevrolet in Post Falls, Idaho, did not receive notice from GM on Monday morning that her dealership would be on the automaker's list of closures.

Even so, the economy has been tough on the business.

I have been a customer at Knudtsen Chevrolet for 20 years. I know many of the employees, so I was curious if they had to lay off any workers recently. She told me they started streamlining about three years ago.

"I wanted to get lean and efficient," Knudtsen told me. "We did eliminate some positions then and have since restructured some management positions, but we have not laid off any employees recently."

In reviewing some of the criteria GM used in closing dealerships, Knudtsen says her business is strongly above the curve. Sales, above all, tell the story: The 1,100 dealerships that closed represent 7 percent of GM's volume.

While sales for new cars have dropped dramatically on the lot, it's surviving, Knudtsen says, thanks to strong customer satisfaction marks and its multifaceted business model. Used-car sales remain consistent. It offers a car-rental service and a body shop. The staff has also implemented numerous benefits, such as free neck and back massages on Thursdays, shuttle service for long appointments and the use of computers and Internet while I wait.

There is much negative news about the auto industry and GM in particular. But if other dealers can bring in multiple income streams and practice common-sense business -- like my hometown car lot -- I think they can sustain a solid business in a bad economy.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about small business and the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content.

by Jared Huggins

As I drive my new Chrysler 300 south on Alma School Road in Mesa, Ariz., I can't help but feel a bit melancholy. Darner Chrysler Jeep, the 45-year-old Mesa-based business where I bought my new wheels, is among nearly 800 Chrysler dealerships across the country closing its doors.

I grew up less than two miles from Darner, one of Arizona's oldest dealerships. My father bought his first new car, a 1968 Chrysler Newport, from Darner. The pearl white Newport was not so much a family car as it was a way to find women, dad told me. It was enough to catch the eye of my mother.

For years my family has purchased cars, trucks and vans from Darner. I was there less than a month ago, signing paperwork on the killer deal I got because of the economy. This week, I felt the urge to go back.

The dealership is owned by Joey Darner, a tall, lanky man. He was standing in front of the dealership when I pulled into the lot. I approached the front door of the dealership, trying to find the salesman who had sold me my Chrysler 300, but I first ran into Joey.

"Hey, how do you like that new 300?" he asked.

I told him I loved it. It's a great ride. We talked about the dealership's closure and whether he was going to fight it.

"The fault was not on the dealers here," Joey told me. He said Chrysler won't buy back the new cars. They're going to keep the downtown dealership open, but it will only sell used vehicles.

I told him I was sorry to hear that. I'll miss Darner. That was the end of our brief talk. He then thanked me for my business and moved onto the next customer.

When I pulled out of the parking lot, probably for the last time, I felt the impact of the economic turndown in a way that really hit home for me and my family. Darner was part of the community, and I will miss it a great deal.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about small business and the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content.

by Michelle L Devon

If there is a recession going on, I hadn't noticed. At Christmas, I was the only member of my family to purchase gifts for everyone. My mother said, "It's been a hard year for everyone."

"Not for me," I answered. Business is going great for me.

That's one of the good things about owning a small business that provides contract services. When a recession hits and layoffs happen, companies merge employee duties so one person takes on the role of two, without additional compensation.

Unfortunately, companies become overextended. With layoffs, there aren't enough people to do the jobs required. That's where my business lends a hand.

I opened Accentuate Services, my small business in Odessa, Texas, more than 14 years ago to offer accounting, bookkeeping, transcription and administrative services to other companies. Companies outsource projects requiring extra manpower and pay me a good wage for it. My business earns $30 to $75 per hour spent on clients' projects.

I save them on overhead, supplies, salaries and employee fringe benefits. When the project ends, I move on, and the company saves money.

For me, the recession has generated more business than I can handle. I used to average one to three requests for quotes on projects per week. During this recession, I average one to three requests for quotes per day.

In 14 years, I've never been as busy as the last few months. I'm turning away people or referring them to others.

About six years ago, Accentuate expanded to offer editing and writing services, Internet marketing, promotion, keywording and publishing consulting. The Internet is changing how small businesses operate; less flexible small businesses are faring worse. I operated outside the recession's reach.

With only three employees, my business is inundated with requests for price quotes and those seeking employment. Without the manpower to quote new projects and complete existing ones, we've sought subcontractors. Weeding through the hundreds of applications is quite a task in itself.

While the rest of the country talks about how money is tight and jobs are scarce, my business has boomed and benefited from the recession. I'm glad we are able to offer side jobs and help to those struggling.

I feel as long as we stay up with the changing climate of today's economy, my small business will continue to do well in any market. Most small businesses will likely weather this recession in much better shape than their larger counterparts.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about small business and the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content.

by April Hendrickson

I own and operate Pro Dyno High Performance, a 27-year-old automotive performance shop in Phoenix that I took over six years ago.

We provide automotive luxuries -- custom exhaust systems, specialty engines, superchargers, etc. -- mostly for GM vehicles.

The recession has made it difficult to offer these services because our customers are tightly holding on to their money. Because of the lack of work, Pro Dyno has gone from five full-time employees to two during this downturn.

The only bright spot is that similar area businesses -- our competitors -- have closed their doors. Other shops have left Arizona. Capitalizing on someone's downfall is not enjoyable, but this is to our advantage. We have been able to maintain and gain from our competitors' misfortune.

This wasn't the case a year ago, when new shops opened all over the valley. There was so much work. If customers called for service, and we were not able to provide for them quickly, they would call other shops and look for the best deal. This has stopped completely.

The recession has been a double-edged sword. The work has slowed, but even if we do have customers demanding new products, we often can't deliver because our vendors are behind schedule. The recession forced our suppliers to stop producing products because of cost and lack of employees.

If my customers are ready with cash in hand, I have to explain why something that was once available in two days is now taking two weeks. For a customer who is ready to spend, that is not good news. It allows them time to talk themselves out of the purchase. They think of other ways to spend their money.

There is some good news, though. People are getting tax refunds and are looking again to add our performance products to their vehicles.

When times get bad, the small business that stays open will succeed. I am thankful to all our customers. They alone are the reason for my success.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about how people are surviving the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content. For more stories in this series, click here.

by Eloah James

My husband, Jason, an employee at a Saturn dealership in Texas, says co-workers are experiencing "short-time fever."

Jason has worked for Saturn and GM for nearly 15 years as a service technician. For the last 10, he's worked at the Saturn of Austin dealership.

With a steady decline in repair work over the last year, GM's looming bankruptcy is not a big surprise for our family. With Saturn's demise coming two years earlier than we anticipated, and the announcement of 1,200 GM dealership closings, it looks like his job may be a lost cause altogether.

At my husband's dealership, folks are not bringing in their cars for repairs as frequently. And when they do, the repair work is often under warranty, so Jason is paid less for his work. This means he may only get paid for two hours worth of work for an eight-hour job because most of the work is under warranty. That leaves a technician like Jason making $50 or less for a day's work.

Unlike autoworkers in Detroit and at plants, service technicians at Jason's work are not unionized. If the dealership closes, he won't receive a severance package or other compensation; he'll simply lose his job. He told me he thinks about doing something else "all the time." He says he knows if he sticks it out until Saturn of Austin closes, he may have to rely on unemployment.

"GM used to have more money than anybody," Jason told me. But now his income has dropped off sharply over the last six months. His current year-to-date salary is around one-third of what it should be.

We do see some reason for optimism, however. If Penske and Nissan-Renault bought out portions of Saturn, the new company could rebadge Nissans under the Saturn brand. It's not ideal, but it could protect many Saturn jobs, including my husband's, as Nissan would utilize existing Saturn dealerships.

Jason said this was the best news Saturn service technicians had this year. But with GM's news that it's shuttering dealerships, it may be too late.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about how people are surviving the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content. For more stories in this series, click here.

By Steven Bryan

For years, I clung to the "Leave it to Beaver" business model, in which the breadwinner worked at an office for 40-plus years before quietly retiring with a gold watch and pension. Unfortunately, the eroding American economy has made that particular fantasy more of a pipe dream than ever before.

But recent economic news isn't all doom and gloom. For me and other working Americans, it took, as Jimmy Buffett is fond of singing, changes in latitudes plus changes in attitudes. After working 12 years for A.G. Edwards, a brokerage firm with headquarters in my hometown of St. Louis, I abandoned the security of a permanent position to become a contract employee at a new firm.

My hand was forced a bit. Wachovia Securities purchased A.G. Edwards and made massive staff cuts, including yours truly. My original "out date" was March 31, but I chose to leave early to become a contract employee at what is known as a "pharmacy benefit manager." My co-workers and I like to joke that we are legal drug dealers, making sure that people who are injured on the job get the proper medications.

I was one of the first new contract employees to come into that firm. Within the past two months, at least seven technical specialists have joined our department, each with an employment contract.

Flying without the safety net of a salary and benefits is not all bad. I'm paid by the hour with a generous amount of overtime thrown my way; my monthly income has seen a sharp increase in recent months. I'm also constantly learning new things that look good on a resume.

Traditionally, contract employees have been the "paper towels" of the work force -- use a few times and then get a new one. In 2009, though, I have seen the contract worker evolve from a disposable employee into more of a "Soldier of Fortune." At my current job placement, I go where I'm needed, lending my expertise and talents to various managers.

For my efforts, I have money in the bank, credit cards with decent limits and enough spare cash to help out friends who need financial assistance.

For publicly traded companies, contract employees make good sense for the bottom line. We are listed as "variable expenses" and not fixed costs on the corporate books, which looks good to investors.

For me, it's been an interesting experience. There's a weird sense of detachment and of not fully belonging. But I'll keep coming back as long as the paychecks clear.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about how people are surviving the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content. For more stories in this series, click here.

Written by Sylvia Cochran

Bills are piling up, creditors are calling even before the grace period has elapsed, the kids' college funds are virtually zero, and I hear a drum roll whenever I open the IRA statement.

Welcome to a day in the life of a Los Angeles-area stay-at-home mom.

After my husband made it through the latest round (third round? fourth round?) of the cable industry's layoffs, we were relieved. Nevertheless, California is hit hard by the sudden loss of home-equity capital, rising food and gasoline prices and state sales-tax rates that just went up by 1 percent -- now about 9.25.

Frugality started small. I learned to ferret out money-saving billing options from the utility companies. For example, Southern California Edison offers customers the opportunity to apply for a level payment plan. Summer electricity use is higher, and winter use is significantly lower. SCE takes a year of charges and averages the amounts, making the monthly bill predictable and easy to budget for.

Then something interesting happened. To pinch pennies, we learned to go green. We rarely glanced at the Home Depot and Lowe's displays about energy-saving innovations. But with the cost of energy going up (SCE announced in March that it would raise rates by 2 percent), these displays suddenly held great interest.

Because of the recession, we learned to reduce energy consumption. Now the thermostat on the water heater is set to warm not hot, and one night we turned off all the lights to be surprised just how many blinking status lights were still on.

Since then I have hooked up virtually everything to kill-all switches that I can hit at the end of the day, when I really do not need to have the radio, TV, VCR, DVD player and all the other appliances sucking energy from the wall in exchange for being ready for use.

Being green also means setting up a container vegetable garden. Growing veggies in containers is so easy that it makes me wonder why I hadn't thought of it before. Seeing how nutritious tomatoes are and how much a single watermelon vine will produce, it's a no-brainer to grow these in the sunny Southern California climate. I like to take full advantage of the sun and the convenience of the container garden. I am now experimenting with artichokes. Who knew that they come back each year?

In some ways, it is a sad testimony that going green did not happen until a recession virtually forced it on us.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about how people are surviving the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content. For more stories in this series, click here.

By Heather K. Adams

Living in a small town has its advantages, especially during an economic crisis.

Take a walk down the main street of Harvey, N.D., and you will find a menagerie of small businesses that are thriving. When the town has only the essential businesses, what's left to close? Despite the recent economic downturn, Harvey manages to survive.

How does Harvey remain unscathed in a recession? Residents shop locally. When money is tight, who wants to fill up the gas tank and drive 75 miles to the nearest big city to go shopping or go out for lunch? In turn, local shops are stocking a wider variety of goods so consumers stay satisfied.

As a community-conscious consumer, when I made the decision to purchase a newer vehicle with my tax refund this year, I went car shopping here in Harvey. I spent $3,200 at Country Motors for a 1999 Buick LeSabre. Maybe I could have found a better deal in a bigger town, but I know the car dealer. I knew I could help Harvey's economy and his small used-car dealership by spending my tax refund locally.

I work for the local weekly newspaper as a bookkeeper. In that capacity, I have noticed that local businesses are advertising more. They aren't relying on word-of-mouth methods. Instead, the shops are getting more aggressive, trying to draw outside money into the community.

Thanks to the "Making Work Pay" provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, my take-home pay has increased by approximately $25 every pay period. For the first time since high school, I was able to open a savings account and invest in my future. Twenty-five dollars may seem a paltry amount, but over the course of just one year I will have saved $650. For a single mother of two children, not having to live paycheck to paycheck and being able to set aside money is a powerful feeling.

I have also seen an increase in the amount of county assistance I receive. Last year, making less money per month than I do now, I received $250 to $265 of monthly food stamps benefits. This month, even with the additional income, I received $350 to feed myself and two children. My friend's food stamps benefits jumped almost $200 from last month to this month.

While the national economic crisis wasn't felt as hard here in Harvey, I can say I have been breathing a little easier these past few months. For a community to survive a recession, it has to pull together, something in which Harvey excels.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about how people are surviving the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content. For more stories in this series, click here.

By Kristen May

It worries me how oblivious I was to this recession. I knew bad things were happening. But then I blinked and suddenly this country is in the worst recession in my lifetime.

I do have something to blame my lack of attention on: I'm in love.

I got engaged Dec. 24, and my fiancé and I are planning a wedding for June. This is not the best time to be making big changes intentionally. But I'll be giving up a paying job and moving to a city where he'll be in school. Then I'll have to find a job. We'll be dealing with the intricacies of being married while trying to pay the bills with nonexistent money. Maybe it's just the rose-colored glasses, but I'm confident it will all work out.

My parents are graciously paying for the wedding, but my fiancé and I have been keeping costs low for their sake, knowing that they are living under financial stress. (They had retirement accounts that were hit hard, and we haven't started saving yet.)

We decided to reduce costs by serving cake and hors d'oeuvres at the reception instead of the traditional sit-down dinner. That way, we can still send out 200 invitations and expect 150 guests without too much cost per person.

In addition, we are planning to use recorded music during the wedding and reception, to hire a friend with experience as a photographer and to have fewer bridesmaids and groomsmen. Our dress scheme for the wedding party is also cost-sensitive. We gave them basic colors they need to stick to rather than requiring them to purchase or rent specific elements.

In addition to moving our belongings a few thousand miles from Northfield, Minn., to Columbia, S.C., my fiancé and I are responsible for the honeymoon and wedding bands. My parents have a timeshare and his have frequent-flier miles, but the two of us are saving for a rental car, food and additional expenses for our honeymoon.

Our wedding bands are a bit trickier. We want them to match my platinum heirloom engagement ring, and platinum is far more expensive than gold. Because of this, I have been especially cautious in my spending and especially quick to take any money-making opportunities I can find.

The last thing I want to do in this economy is to go into debt. That's much of the reason we're in trouble.

This is part of a series of personal accounts about how people are surviving the recession. The writers are contributors to Associated Content.

By Cheryl Williams

I never thought the economic crisis would affect me. I've never had a lot of money anyway. My home is paid for. I paid off my debts a couple of years ago. I have no IRA account. I figured my life would go on as it always had despite the worsening state of the economy.

I was wrong.

Bit by bit, the economy's woes crept into my life.

First, my 24-year-old daughter moved back home with her dad and me when she was laid off from her job. I converted my office back into a bedroom for her, which meant my work hours were compromised. I thought her stay would be short-lived, but the job market in Charlotte, N.C., is not good right now.

Goodwill and The Dollar Tree stores are now where I shop. If I need something, I check at these places first before going elsewhere. I bought a new sweater from Goodwill for $3. The Belk department store tag originally listed it for $60. Once-expensive handbags can be found at Goodwill for $2. I buy my health and beauty products and cleaning supplies at Dollar Tree.

And the downturn has affected my health. Neither my husband nor I is able to afford the health insurance plans our employers offer. It would cost more than half of our paychecks to purchase company insurance. We have tried purchasing health insurance through private companies, but they will not cover my husband because he has Type II diabetes. The cost to cover me is the cost of a mortgage payment because I am 60 pounds overweight. Health insurance is not an option.

But we're not defeated. We're now living healthier lives. There are no more YMCA gym memberships, but I can just as easily walk in my neighborhood as I could around a walking track. I lift weights at home just as easily as I could in a gym. It takes more self-discipline, but I know the end result is worth it.

Grocery shopping has changed, too. I always make a list before shopping, and I always stick to it. I never shop while hungry. I never realized how much money I was spending on junk food, convenience foods and impulse buying.

Since making these simple changes, I have lost 40 pounds and two sizes, resulting in many of my clothes being too large for me.

The economic crisis has forced us to get creative. As a result, I am healthier, and so is my family.