THUNDER BAY — Local and regional business leaders have a rosy outlook in 2023.
Thunder Bay Ventures recently conducted their fourth biennial Thunder Bay and Area Business Confidence Index with the help of the Faculty of Business Administration at Lakehead University.
The project used to be called the Small Business Survey, but was revamped in 2017 to gauge the overall business confidence level in the Thunder Bay and Area. I also explored the impact of individual elements of overall confidence levels.
The inaugural computation in 2017 set a benchmark of one hundred, and the current business confidence index is measured relative to the six-year-old benchmark.
The overall rating in 2023 was 101.4, which experts say was a strong recovery to levels even higher than in 2017.
Chief executive officers, chief operating officers, presidents, owners or managing directors were asked to respond between June 28 and Sept. 15.
David Richards, the dean of the faculty of business administration at Lakehead University, told reporters Friday that while businesses are facing challenges, they are also optimistic about the future.
“I think some of the indicators that [suggest to me that] things have turned around [include emerging fully from] the pandemic, and seeing a return to more normal conditions. [This] promotes a more positive feeling about [a] businesses future, but also the economy as well,” Richards said. “There were organizations [that] reported an increase in revenue — they are busier and that that will continue in the future, which I think also contributed to that.”
Nine statements/questions were asked of businesses in the business confidence index, including whether they feel the area's economy is stable and moving in a positive direction, whether they expect their company's revenue to be stable or increase, whether they expect their company's economic well-being to be stable or be better, and their confidence in the area's economic future.
When it comes to common challenges, Dr. Richards noted a lot are related to the increased cost of doing business
"Inflation was a significant theme in this year's survey — taxes are a recurring theme," Richards said. "Labour supply is another that is not but has certainly played a big part in people's responses.”
Maria Vidotto, the general manager of Thunder Bay Ventures, also mentioned the shortage of workers in Northwestern Ontario, and feels there has been consistency since they revamped the survey.
“I don't think there has been a lot of change over the last six years. Things have been pretty consistent except [during the COVID-19 pandemic] when the local businesses were hit hard," Vidotto said. "Their revenues were less [than in other years].”
The confidence index reading was 92.9 per cent in 2021, which was a drop from the 2019 reading of 99.8
More than half — 57 per cent — of respondents felt that the economic landscape is moving in a positive direction as compared to 31 per cent who felt that the economy isn’t moving at all and 12 cent who voted for the negative direction.
Businesses did see an increase in revenue with 54 per cent reporting a positive variance in their revenues in the last twelve months and 54 per cent expecting that trend to continue in the next twelve months.
Of the 91 respondents, nearly 64 per cent said that at least some of their employees were granted a wage increase in 2022, with almost 45 per cent bumping up pay by at least 5 per cent.
Businesses also highlighted the three levels of government to survey collectors, with only eight per cent saying that policies adopted from the municipal, provincial or federal governments have had a positive impact on them, which remains consistent with previous editions of the index.
Richards, along with his team of Camillo Lento and Claudio Pousa, also took suggestions from the assembled audience, which included changing the timeline of the survey and even adapting what is asked to perhaps address the line of “reducing red-tape” and what that means to the various businesses.
“My team and I work alongside Thunder Bay Ventures in planning the survey. If. There were some really good suggestions in the discussion. If we do this again in 2025, we will certainly bring forward those considerations,” Richards said.
Vidotto mentioned that a 2025 survey is pending approval from the Board of Directors.
