Business Executives Rank Balanced State Budget and Education the Top Issues Facing Alabama
- July 24th, 2019
Business executives in Alabama believe education and workforce training is the top issue currently facing the state. Education and workforce training ranked second in the 2015 survey and was one of the most significant shifts in rankings from the previous year.
Business executives are surveyed annually by the Center for Business and Economic Research in The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce on various topics related to issues facing the state and their respective companies. More than 104 business executives participated in the latest survey in November 2016. The survey has been conducted since 2013 and asks for opinions of the Alabama Business Confidence Index™ (ABCI) panelists.
While education and workforce training top the issues facing the state, economic and business development, dissatisfaction with government, infrastructure improvement and job growth rounded out the issues facing the Alabama.
In issues affecting companies directly, business executives ranked “economy in general” their top issue, which ranked fourth in the 2015 survey. Business leaders specifically mentioned the growth of the state and national economy, consumer confidence and a slow economic recovery.
Government regulations and taxes ranked closely to the economy in general in the individual company portion of the survey. Workforce and company finances and development were the third and fourth-ranked issues facing companies.
Each quarter, business executives across Alabama take the ABCI survey. Seventy-one percent of ABCI panelists use the results as a general indicator of local or regional economic outlook. Nearly 53 percent of business executives also compare personal projections to others’ viewpoints, and 43 percent use the ABCI results as a background information for estimating future trends. Additionally, almost 30 percent of business executives share results with others and 24 percent use the ABCI results in short-term planning.
The ABCI panel is open to business executives across the state. Registration and current and historical results are available on the ABCI website. Newsletters with results are provided for Alabama and for the Birmingham-Hoover, Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery metro areas. Panelists can take the Q2 2017 survey March 1-15.