Valley 2010 Economic Forecast

“Last year’s survey indicated a lot of uncertainties for local businesses, a trend that echoed throughout these tough economic times,” said Ernie Baird, managing partner of Baird, Williams and Greer. “ The 2010 survey gives us a light at the end of the tunnel, as the economy seems to have hit bottom and is on a very slow, but relatively certain path to recovery.”

Eight major trends that emerged from the survey for 2010 were:

1) The economy will continue to improve
2) Unemployment rate will continue to rise, however
3) Arizona based businesses predict a hiring freeze throughout the year
4) The banking industry will begin to stabilize
5) The real estate market will experience a comeback
6) Cash flow problems will continue to plague small businesses
7) Consumer spending will slowly increase
8) There will be a small growth rate among local businesses, indicating stability

The results came from a random sample of Arizona based businesses with over 82% of those polled being small and medium sized business with up to 100 employees.