Wisconsin technology executives optimistic about 2011
Wisconsin technology executives responding to the third-quarter 2010 WisBusiness.com Tech Leaders Survey continue to believe the state’s economy is in poor shape, but they expressed growing optimism about the prospects for economic improvement during the next year.
Fifty-one percent of those industry executives who responded to the third-quarter survey believe economic conditions in Wisconsin will get better during the next year, a 10-percentage-point increase from the prior quarter.
Despite increased optimism about the future of the state’s economy, survey respondents continue to view the state’s economy as either poor or fair. In the third quarter, 15 percent of respondents rated the state economy as poor, compared with 12 percent in the previous quarter and 20 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
Sixty-nine percent rated the state’s current economy as fair, unchanged from the prior quarter and only four percentage points higher the same quarter of last year.
The 51 percent of respondents who said they believed the state’s economy will get better in the coming year compares with 41 percent a quarter ago.
“Respondents to the most recent Tech Leaders Survey expressed renewed optimism about the prospects for economic recovery in Wisconsin,” said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. “As we have seen in past survey results, however, this optimism has not been sustained easily, as economic conditions have remained difficult. One thing remains relatively constant in our results, however. Entrepreneurs across Wisconsin continue to express the confidence in the prospects for their own companies that is helping to drive growth, even in difficult times.”
The WisBusiness.com Tech Leaders Survey is a quarterly, statewide survey of senior executives in the information technology, biotechnology and medical device, advanced manufacturing, and clean technology and agricultural biotechnology industries.
