Survey Chicago Area Business Leaders are Optimistic about Chicago Economy



Chicago area business leaders are more optimistic about the state of the Chicago economy than they are about the rest of the United States according to a survey conducted by Blackman Kallick, the ninth largest accounting firm in Chicago.

The Blackman Kallick Survey of Chicago Area Business Leaders asked participants how they felt about the strength of the Chicago economy vs. the U.S. economy, how the economy is affecting their industry in terms of staffing and revenue, and their outlook for the future. The purpose of the survey, conducted online from October 27th - 31st, was to foster discussions with a wide variety of business leaders in the Chicago metropolitan area and provide valuable forecast of the U.S. and Chicago business climates.

Our hope is that the survey results are used by Chicago business leaders to challenge their own experiences and assumptions and will ultimately help them to navigate through these difficult economic times, said Mark J. Blumenthal, Blackman Kallick Partner.

Key findings:

Chicago Economy

>    Chicago business leaders are not as pessimistic about their own business outlook compared to that of the U.S. economy. Results indicate that 77% of those surveyed feel that the U.S. economy is in a recession compared to 64% for the Chicago economy.

>    Additionally, 24% feel that Chicago is just in a slowdown compared to 9% feeling the same for the U.S economy.

Profitability

>    Despite the recessionary and slow down sentiment of Chicago business leaders, 51% believe that they will see no change or an increase in profitability in the next 12 months.

Staffing Plans

>    Despite the majority of business leaders believing that Chicago is in a recession (64%) and that a turnaround is 12 or more months away (65%), the majority of respondents (53%) plan to maintain or increase current staffing levels.

Raising New Capital

>    44% of Chicago business leaders feel that they will not have difficulty obtaining new capital compared to 21% that indicated they anticipate difficulty in obtaining new debt or raising capital in the next 12 months.

More details on this, as well as an opportunity to sign up for future surveys and results, can be found at http://LeaderSurvey.BlackmanKallick.com.

About Blackman Kallick

Blackman Kallick is the ninth largest accounting firm in Chicago (Crain'ss Chicago Business, November 17, 2008). The firm'ss more than 250 professionals provide audit, tax and consulting services for privately held and public companies as well as not-for-profit organizations. Blackman Kallick is a member of HLB International, a worldwide network of independent professional accounting firms and business advisors with more than 15,000 professionals in more than 100 countries.

Blackman Kallick, 10 South Riverside Plaza, 9th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, 312-207-1040, http://www.BlackmanKallick.com.





Survey Chicago Area Business Leaders are Optimistic about Chicago Economy