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Survey of Chicago Area Business Leaders, September 2009

Executive Summary

Our first survey was conducted in October 2008, immediately preceding the November 2008 elections, and the second survey was conducted immediately following President Obama’s January 2009 inauguration. The timing of this, our third survey, was also purposeful.

View survey results as PDF or right click on this link to download PDF only.

During the first week of September 2009, the media and many economic pundits reported that economic recovery had begun. But many questions still remained:

• The recovery to what?
• If we are indeed in a state of recovery, do Chicago-area business leaders feel it yet?
• What are their plans for dealing with it?
• And, will all Chicago-area businesses benefit equally from the recovery? (We expect not.)
   

The results of our survey provide insight into how Chicago-area business leaders view today's economy and the steps they are taking, or contemplate taking, going forward.

We encourage you to compare your own experience, viewpoints and assumptions to the findings of the September 2009 survey. Please feel free to share your thoughts with us. We welcome your comments on the results of the survey as well as your specific plans for ensuring that your company benefits from the economic recovery.

Interesting Observations

When comparing the earlier October 2008 (pre-election) and January 2009 (in the heart of the recession) survey responses to those of the September 2009 (impending recovery) survey, we noticed the following:

• In October 2008, we were encouraged that survey respondents showed faith in the local economy. This was supported by the Midwest being a laggard into the recession. In January 2009, the responses leveled out. Now, in September, we see that local business leaders believe Chicago is lagging out of the recession as well. We expect that this will, in fact, be the case.(See page 13)
• The majority of respondents believe the economy will recover to a “healthy” state eventually (only 5.7% responded “never”). More than half expect the recovery to take 24 months. (See page 14.)
• One of the most noted and discussed results from the last two surveys was the majority of respondents’ lack of worry about obtaining financing, despite the media’s attention on how tight financing has become. The results across all three surveys have, for the most part, remained flat. (See page 11.)
• Both hiring plans and profitability expectations are reportedly on the rise (as compared to January 2009). The changes here are dramatic and seem to provide a counterpoint to recently reported unemployment rates, as well as the expectation that the Chicago area will lag into recovery. (See pages 8–10.)
• For this survey, we asked a new question: What Are You Doing Right Now to Seize Opportunities Presented by the Current Business Environment? While “tightening operations” received the highest number of responses, it was followed relatively closely by “revising strategic plans/restructuring,” “strategic expansion” and “adding additional product/service offerings.” (See pages 16–18 for the results, as well as a large number of verbatim comments.)

The previous surveys can be found online at www.BlackmanKallick.com/articles/business-surveys/.

View survey results as PDF or right click on this link to download PDF only.

View February 2009 survey results online.

Contact us for a hard copy of survey results.

Sign up to take part in the follow-on survey or to receive the results only.

This publication is part of Blackman Kallick’s marketing of professional services, and is not written tax advice directed at the specific facts and circumstances of any person and/or entity. Contents of this publication are of a general nature, and you should not act on this information without obtaining professional advice from your business advisor that is appropriately tailored to your individual needs and circumstances. This written advice is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code.