IB partnered with Chamberlain Research Consultants (CRC) to poll a pre-selected group of 100 companies. Chamberlain researcher Tony Trout structures the questionnaire, summarizes the data, and created a website so participating company presidents can receive “live” data.
Snapshot: 41% of our interviewees ranked the U.S. economy as “poor,” with the state garnering a 22% “poor” vote and Dane County showing a kinder 4% “poor” ranking. Obviously we continue to believe the Greater Madison area is somewhat insulated from state and national economies. Still, Dane County government is seen as performing in the “poor” range by 41% of the responders, indicating that the well-being of the area greatly rests on the shoulder of private business.
IB Asks
Commentary from our Participants
Advertising/Marketing Firm: We see a lot of companies looking to build share in their market. They believe they can take business from weakened competitors and are leveraging their stronger cash positions with similar or larger marketing budgets to emerge from the downturn with market dominance.
Builder: We have seen a slight increase in our remodeling project revenue and a slight increase in people talking about new homes. Clients being able to sell their current homes to move to a new one continues to be a problem. We are also still seeing no activity in sales of our high-end “spec” homes.
Builder: Some grant money from the 2008 Flood Recovery Program is finally becoming available and may fuel a one-month burst of productivity and revenue for my company and my subcontractors. Leads and jobs remain relatively slow.
Commercial Builder: Our market has gone to sleep.
Computer /IT Hi-Tech Company: Each month this year has been a record month. We see a very robust third quarter. The credit market still is tight, but we have seen an increase in leasing acquisitions.
Consulting Company: Our consulting business tends to do well when our clients are hesitant to hire their own full-time staff. There are still many concerns about the U.S., Wisconsin, and local economies. Madison is resistant to these trends, but there are many things to be concerned about.
CPA Firm: Washington is killing small business, no doubt.
What does the immediate future hold for nonprofits?
Concern, according to our statistically significant sample of the businesses in our region. Charitable giving levels have been at an all-time low this year, and while 9% of our companies anticipate further staff reductions, 15% of the companies polled indicated that they will decrease their levels of charitable giving in the coming 90 days. That’s showing restraint, actually, given that 15% of the businesses polled also expect a corresponding drop in company revenues in that same time period. They can’t give what they don’t have … sad projections for employers, employees, and area charities.
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