Capital Region Survey Shows Actual Business Growth is Less than Expected Business Growth

800 businesses were surveyed for the 20th annual Business Climate Survey conducted by Marvin @ Co. P.C. and the University at Albany in cooperation with area chambers of commerce. ... For 2005, 64 percent of respondents had expected business to increase, but the follow-up found business rose at only 60 percent of the companies. The gaps over the past four years have been fairly narrow, with actual results only a few percentage points behind expectations.
Members of the Adirondack, Albany-Colonie, Colonie, Montgomery, Rensselaer County, Saratoga County, Schenectady County, Schoharie County and Southern Saratoga Chambers were surveyed. Health care and energy costs are the top concerns businesses say they are facing.
Opinions on how well the economy is doing vary by location. Three-quarters of respondents who belong to The Chamber of Southern Saratoga County said their county was prospering. In Montgomery County, meanwhile, 60 percent of the chamber's members described their economy as stagnant, and none said it was prospering. Times Union, Friday, Feb. 17, 2006, Business section, p.1.