Envision Iowa Statewide Leaders Economic Outlook Report released in Partnership with the Business Publication Corporation

The Envision Iowa Statewide Leaders Economic Outlook Survey was sent to approximately 3,500 leaders from business and industry, economic development, chambers, education, municipalities and government agencies across Iowa. Responses represent 77 of Iowa’s 99 counties. Leadership sentiment for each sub-theme were analyzed and compared against underlying key performance indicators (KPIs) commonly used by Iowa leaders to measure Iowa’s performance. From our analysis, insights were generated to both inform and engage with leaders and decisions makers across Iowa to support their decision-making processes

Three high-level takeaways from this year's report included the following: 

1. Leaders are cautiously optimistic about business opportunities, driven by a strong belief in the economic power of the state’s key industries.
2. Leaders are growing more concerned about population growth and meeting workforce needs across the state of Iowa, impacting their outlook and driving concerns on potential future declines to quality of life for Iowans.
3. Heavy investments in communications infrastructure in 2021 and 2022 are reflected in leaders’ optimistic outlook, also reflecting their concern for the need for heavy investment across social, energy and transportation infrastructure.

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Insights from the report were discussed at numerous events with Iowa leaders throughout 2023. The report including the survey data and key findings can be found below.