Business Roundtable Releases Latest CEO Economic Outlook Survey
Increasingly Stable Outlook through 2012
(South Burlington, Vt.) The chief executives of Vermont’s leading businesses demonstrated an increasingly stable outlook in their economic forecasts for the coming six months, compared against the previous survey. The survey, which was completed between June 1 and June 15, was released today by Vermont Business Roundtable Chair Steve Voigt, CEO, King Arthur Flour and President Lisa Ventriss.
Key findings from the second quarter of 2012 over the first quarter of 2012 include:
- An expected seven percent increase in stable company sales;
- An expected six percent increase in stable capital spending; and,
- An expected five percent increase in stable employment levels.
| 6 Months Forecast |
2012 Q2 Increase |
2012 Q2 No Change |
2012 Q2 Decrease |
Quarterly % Change Increase |
2012 Q1 Increase |
2012 Q1 No Change |
2012 Q1 Decrease |
| Sales
|
64% |
32% |
4% |
(3%) |
67% |
25% |
9% |
| Capital Spending |
33% |
58% |
9% |
(10%) |
43% |
53% |
4% |
| Employment
|
32% |
60% |
8% |
(4%) |
36% |
55% |
9% |
“The Roundtable’s survey results indicate an increasing degree of optimism in the economy when compared against the previous quarter,” said Steve Voigt, Chair of the Vermont Business Roundtable and President and CEO of King Arthur Flour. “At the same time, there are several factors at play that could impair greater economic expansion in Vermont, including transportation fuel prices, health care reform efforts, a political election year, and the lingering effects of last year’s Tropical Storm Irene.”
The response rate for this quarter was 60 percent. Historically, rates have varied from 35 to 73 percent. The Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey provides a forward-looking view of the economic assumptions and attitudes of chief executive officers of 120 of the state’s top employers with an aggregate economic impact of $292 billion, with over $1.8 billion in global corporate philanthropy, and employing more than 10 percent of the state’s workforce. The members represent Vermont’s agriculture, construction, education, health services, finance, real estate, insurance, hospitality/leisure, manufacturing, information, utilities, professional/business services, wholesale trade, and non-profit industries.
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