VBR & EPR Release Qtr 2 2019 Business Condition Survey (June 2019)

Lisa Ventriss President of Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR) and Jeffrey Carr President Economic & Policy Resources (EPR) announced the Q2 of 2019 outlook results of their joint initiative the VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey and Index.  The latest survey which was conducted during April of 2019 achieved a response rate of 62 percent overall. 

More than three-quarters of respondents shared negative outlooks specifically with ease of hiring for available positions (76%); a dramatic shift away from neutral from the previous survey (64%) and reflective of the demographic-workforce growth challenges Vermont is currently facing.  A majority of respondents expressed a neutral outlook about the state’s overall business climate (62% Neutral 14% Negative); tempering the negative outlook of the previous survey (41% Neutral 44% Negative).  When asked “Are you more or less optimistic about the general business climate in your sector compared to three months ago?”…overall the responses were largely neutral or negative. The Manufacturing sector expressed the most optimism (40%) while the Education sector had the most pessimistic outlook (43%).