Despite cutbacks, layoffs and gloomy forecasts in the national economic scene, local merchants are not panicking, and are instead moving forward with a "business as usual" approach that includes plans for their annual office Christmas parties.

"Our economy is not that bad regionally," said Al Rieman, president of Black Hills Harley-Davidson. "It's not the best economy, but it won't last forever."

Rieman said that up until three years ago, Black Hills Harley-Davidson held an overnight party in Deadwood, but saving money was not the reason that the company now does a potluck for more than 100 in its office basement.

"We found that the Deadwood setting did not create the type of interdepartmental camaraderie that we were looking for, so we decided to stay here, and replace an equal amount of money formerly spent on the out-of-town party with Christmas bonuses for the employees," he said.

Julie Beach, the office manager at Loftus Dental, said that her company plans to go to lunch at a downtown restaurant and then on to a Rapid City Rush hockey game to "celebrate the season." She said that while Loftus Dental is "cautiously realistic" about what is going on with the economy, the annual party for 16 to 20 people remains an important event.

"We always keep it fairly simple," she said. "It's never been a huge blowout. We always try to support the local businesses."

While Roger Vesely of Courtesy Subaru admits that his company has changed some of the ways it does business in the past several months, "we've remained constant on the things we've always done." That includes the annual holiday party for approximately 60 people. "We've talked about it many times, but I'd hate to see us not do it," Vesely said. "It's such a morale builder, and a chance for us to show

support to our staff."

He said this year's party will be pretty much the same as usual, with a catered dinner at the Canyon Lake Resort/Chophouse, Christmas bonuses for the employees, a white elephant gift exchange and gifts for the vendors.

"The only thing we're really scaling back on is the cost of the vendors' gifts," he said. "We have many longtime employees here, which tells me we're doing it right, so why change?"

Carrie Cisle, owner/manager of the Canyon Lake Resort/Chophouse, said Courtesy is not the only company keeping things the same.

"We've seen no changes at all," she said. "We're booked every single night from Dec. 2 until Jan. 10."

Cisle said that the Canyon Lake Resort/Chophouse does about 40 percent catering and 60 percent parties onsite, and most of its business repeats from year to year. She said that she has seen her costs rise, but has been able to absorb them in such a way that her company is still a popular and affordable choice for area companies.

"Instead of raising prices, I took some types of food off the menu, unless they are specifically requested," she said. She cited smoked salmon as an example. "When I first got into this business, it was $2.99/ pound, but the price is now $7.99/pound. I just offer lots of other choices of more affordable foods."

Dave Tribby, general manager of Prairie Edge, said his company is too busy to have its party before Christmas, so it traditionally is held in February or March. He expects about 80 people, including employees, artists and family members, to attend the event, which will include a banquet, short program and a dance with music provided by a disc jockey.

"We always try to have a nice night out," he said. "Some of our artists come from quite a long distance, and the party is our opportunity to spent time with people we don't often see."

While the economy is a concern for Tribby, he said he had no thoughts of skipping the annual party.

"The way I look at it, we just all need to be really good at what we do for a living," he said. "Now is not the time to start pulling our perks, and a once-a-year event is not a good place to cut costs."

Lisa Werlinger of the Mystique Edge Salon said she and her staff went to Jake's in Deadwood last year and spent the night, but plan to stay in Rapid City this year, although the decision wasn't made as a cost-cutting measure.

"We just decided to open the party up to families, too, so we will be having over twice as many people," she said.

Werlinger said the event is her staff's "big night out," and they look forward to it every year. "It's basically our gift to them, and they deserve it," she said. "They worked hard all year."

Myla Ebright, assistant general manager/event coordinator at the Elks Club, said the Elks has a lot of smaller parties booked this year, as opposed to bigger groups, with a 25 percent increase in parties of 25 to 100 people. Ebright said that in anticipation of a slower season due to the economy, she took a proactive approach and called companies that have had parties at the Elks in the past. She said that one of the main questions she fielded from potential clients was whether or not the Elks charges extra for the room.

"We have never done that," she said. "And I think that really made the difference. That's how I booked a lot of these parties."

Ebright admitted that businesses seem more budget-conscious this year.

"I've seen some definite tightening of the purse strings," she said. "They're ordering lower-priced menu items, choosing turkey and pork over prime rib and chicken cordon bleu, and not necessarily offering drink tickets."

Nevertheless, Ebright said her calendar is filling up. "We have lots of repeaters, so we must do something right," she said.