Iowa Manufacturers Plan for the Future
June 13, 2022 | Download PDF
DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa manufacturers continue to make significant capital expenditures and increase wages, in light of supply chain challenges and market fluctuations according to the latest Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) Quarterly Business Survey. ABI sent this survey to its board in early June.
- Survey results show more than 70 percent of respondents plan to make capital expenditures in the third quarter of 2022.
- Fifty-one (51) percent of respondents expect the number of employees in their business to grow, which is similar to the results of 50 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
- Forty-eight (48) percent of respondents expect sales to expand in the third quarter of the year. This is a decrease from 60 percent for the second quarter of 2022. For the first time in several quarters, 13percent expect sales to retract.
“This quarter’s survey results reflect the national sentiment that businesses are preparing for an economic slowdown, while continuing business investment,” ABI President Mike Ralston said. “Businesses are most concerned with the substantial increase in fuel costs and continued supply chain and workforce challenges.”
Iowa employers continue to have the future of Iowa’s workforce as their focus.
“Employers continue to see retirements within their workforce,” Ralston said. “Business leaders are not just looking at the next quarter but at the next 15-20 years.”
ABI members continue to strive to be the employer of choice in their communities. It is clear from the results of the survey that increased technology investments and creative retention efforts are critical to the continued future of Iowa’s manufacturing industry.
Approximately half of ABI’s 1,500-member companies are manufacturers. ABI represents nearly every industry in the state of Iowa.