New Technology World

A recent survey by the Boyd Center for Business Economics Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville found that many state business leaders believe Tennessee’s economy is on a much better trajectory than the U.S. Views are beginning to soften.

The Tennessee Business Leaders Survey, conducted in August, shows that respondents are softening their pessimism about inflation. Only a third (32.7%) said high inflation would continue, down from about half (53.1%) in the previous survey in January.

Figure 1: Tennessee business leaders’ views on August 2022 and January 2022 inflation.

“People are seeing some prices starting to fall, which is good news,” said Don Bluth, director of the Boyd Center. Inflation is still on people’s minds, but not as dire as it was in January.

54.4% of business leaders surveyed said they expect the U.S. economy to weaken significantly or moderately next year, while 67.5% expect Tennessee’s economy to improve moderately over that period. , I think it will improve a lot.

One respondent elaborated on why their expectations of the state were better, stating, “Tennessee’s economy is driven by population growth, driven by a good business climate, cost of living, and low tax rates. There is.”

Nearly two-thirds (69.7%) of survey participants believe Tennessee is on the right track, and 72.5% say the state is doing a good or excellent job of creating a good business environment. It says it does. About 60.6% expect a moderate or significant increase in revenue, and 48.5% expect a moderate or significant increase in profit as well. Business leaders strongly believe that market demand and growth drive business profits forward, citing it as a factor, from 53.9% in January to 67%. Respondents believe new technology and cost savings will also help drive profits.

Figure 2: Two-thirds of Tennessee business leaders expect Tennessee’s economy to outperform the national economy over the next 12 months.

The state’s economy is optimistic, but business leaders say there is plenty of room for improvement. When respondents were asked to identify his three areas where the state could invest more resources, strengthening workforce development (65.7%) led by a large percentage of responses. Technology Infrastructure (48.6%) and Infrastructure Development (46.7%) rounded out the top three.

Figure 3: Business leaders identified five improvements to improve Tennessee’s business climate.

Nearly 7 in 10 business leaders say Tennessee has an inadequate supply of well-trained workers, and additional training and educational opportunities are seen as key to remedying the shortage. It is done. More than half of respondents (56.4%) said worker retention remains a problem, largely due to the cost and availability of housing and child care.

Fears of a recession are serious, with more than half of business leaders surveyed saying it could be more than 50% likely this year, and just 15.8% saying it could be less than 25%. Nearly three-quarters (71.3%) said the Fed should stop raising rates either this year or in the first half of 2023.

A complete set of survey responses is available on the Boyd Center website.

The Boyd Center at UT’s Haslam College of Business conducted the survey from August 2-21, gathering responses from business leaders across Tennessee. Respondents represent a broad sample of companies in all industries, from less than 50 employees to he over 5,000.

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contact:

Lindsay Owen (865-974-6375, lowen8@utk.edu)

Erin Hatfield (865-974-6086, ehatfie1@utk.edu)