Optimism Remains

Optimism Remains

ECONOMIC SURVEY by Rod Thomson | Executive Editor

While the national economic picture remains in flux, Gulf Coast companies are planning optimistically for the coming year. But it is not unbridled.

More than half of Gulf Coast companies plan to hire employees during the next 12 months, according to a new Gulf Coast Business Review-Progressive Employer Services survey of more than 100 Gulf Coast companies.

That is down from the 77% of companies that reported hiring new employees in the past 12 months, according to the survey.

The results reveal the expected impact of the housing downturn and the apparent anticipation on the part of many companies that the market is not on the verge of the rebound.

However, when the 52% still planning to hire new employees is coupled with the balance of the survey, the attitude of Gulf Coast companies appears far cheerier than news accounts would suggest.

"I was fairly surprised," says Michael Corley, president of Sarasota-based Progressive Employer Services, which conducted the survey for the Review. "There's more optimism than my guts - and everything you read about the economy - was saying."

The results are even more surprising because many PES clients are in the hard-hit construction industry.

Fully two-thirds of the companies in the survey anticipate revenue growth during the next 12 months. About one-third expects the growth to be less than 10% while one-fifth expect it to be 10-20%. About 4% expect revenue growth of more than 20%.

So one-quarter of the companies are planning for growth of more than 10%. That also surprised Corley, because the growth is in revenue, not in profits accomplished through cost-cutting. "That's top-line growth," he says, "not just efficiencies."

The caution among company leaders comes through strongest in commercial real estate, where only 8% of those polled expected to be making such investments, whether as purchases or leases. Very few are willing to make major capital investments until there is less certainty in the economy and their industry.

The survey, written by the Review and conducted and tabulated by PES, was sent to 520 Gulf Coast-based companies in the PES database Oct. 1; 102 companies responded by the Oct. 4 deadline.

HIRING AND GROWING

Here is the full text of the questions asked in the Gulf Coast Business Review-Progressive Employer Services survey:

Have you hired new employees in the past 12 months?

Yes...77%

No...23%

If yes, why:

To replace existing employees...50%

To fill new positions...31%

Other...7% 

How many employees are you planning to hire over the next 12 months?

0...42% 

1 to 5...50% 

6 to 10...1% 

10 or more...1% 

How much revenue growth do you project over the next 12 months?

No growth...34% 

10% or less...31% 

10% - 20%...20% 

20% or more...4% 

Do you plan on investing in any commercial real estate over the next 12 months?

Yes...8%

No...49%

If yes, will you be looking to:

Lease...12.5%

Buy...87.5%

What percentage of company profits do you plan to reinvest into the company (technology, equipment, etc.) over the next 12 months?

None...24%

5% or less...27% 

5% to 10%...16% 

10% or more...7%