Vermont Business Roundtable and EPR Release Qtr1 2019 Business Conditions Survey Results (Feb. 2019)

Lisa Ventriss President of Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR) and Jeffrey Carr President Economic & Policy Resources (EPR) announced the Q1 of 2019 outlook results of their joint initiative the VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey and Index. The latest survey which was conducted during January of 2019 achieved a response rate of 62 percent overall.

More than 60 percent of respondents shared negative outlooks specifically with ease of hiring for available positions (64%); a decrease from the previous survey (82%). A supermajority of respondents expressed a neutral or negative outlook about the State’s overall business climate (85%); an increase from the previous survey (72%). However expected demand for the next three months was also increased slightly from the previous quarter (41%).  When asked “Are you more or less optimistic about the general business climate in your sector compared to three months ago?” the responses were largely neutral or negative. The Accommodations and Food Services sector expressed the most optimism (43%) while the Education sector had the most pessimistic outlook (80%). 

The survey is attached as a pdf below.  The next survey will be conducted in April 2019.