Printer FriendlySurvey sees Massachusetts
While CEOs of Massachusetts businesses continue to be concerned about the current outlook for the national and state economies, more than half of the 500 CEOs surveyed are somewhat optimistic about the outlook for their own companies.
Fifty-four percent of those surveyed said their own businesses were growing compared to a year ago. While most projected no change in their number of employees over the next 12 months, 34 percent said they planned to hire additional workers and only 4 percent planned to decrease staff over the same period.
Expectations are high about the impact on the state economy of Governor Deval Patrick’s $1 billion biotechnology plan, with 74 percent of the CEOs thinking it will be helpful to the state’s biotechnology industry. An equal number - 74 percent - thought the Patrick plan was likely to increase the state’s overall economic growth rate. Interestingly, while only 13 percent of CEO respondents said their companies were involved in any way in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or medical device or instrumentation industries, 38 percent said they thought the governor’s overall approach would be helpful to their companies.
Thoughts about energy costs and mandatory health insurance are included in the complete CEO Survey (pdf).