OSHKOSH – Optimism abounds among business leaders who responded to the annual Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce Business Outlook Survey.
The survey asked local business leaders to reflect on business challenges and results in 2022 and forecast what they expect in 2023.
With the Department of Workforce Development reporting the Oshkosh unemployment rate at 1.9% in December 2022, its not surprising workforce shortages are one of the top areas of concern. Oshkosh-based businesses employ 41,411, up from 40,748 last year.
In 2022, there was investment in commercial and industrial property of more than $44.4 million, with over $100 million of new development anticipated for 2023.
Overall, there is a growing degree of optimism among local CEOs and business owners with 81% of the participating CEOs rating their company’s outlook as good to excellent in the next 6 months, 88% rate the next 12 months as good to excellent and 86% rate their outlook as good to excellent in the next 1 – 3 years.
Of the local CEOs and business owners who participated in the survey, 74% reported that sales increased in 2022 over the previous year, 63% indicated that profits were up, and 79% increased wages.
This past year, 47% of reporting companies added staff to their payrolls. In 2022, 62% of the respondents indicated that their companies met or exceeded profitability expectations. For those companies missing the mark on profitability expectations, they cited higher operating costs as the largest factor, followed by increased energy costs, lack of employees, and the rising cost of raw materials as the biggest causes.
When asked for their forecasts for 2023, 77% believe that sales will outperform the previous year’s sales level.
While 55% of area CEOs expect to hire more people in 2023, 67% indicate they have 4 or few job applicants per job opening and 14% indicate there were no qualified candidates.
Manufacturers plan to increase their raw material inventories in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter one year ago according to 58% of Oshkosh-based manufacturers. In the first quarter of 2023, 59% of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers anticipate a higher volume of finished goods inventory over 2022 fourth quarter levels. These are lead indicators of an expected sales volume increase in the months to come.
In the 2023 Survey, CEOs were asked about their perception of the region and of Oshkosh. Overall, CEOs felt very positive about the quality of life in the region. Responding companies indicated (Strongly Agreed to Agreed) the region has excellent community institutions with 95% indicating the hospitals and health care system is good to excellent; 87% indicating the education system was second to none; and 97% believed the region has great public safety departments. Additionally, 95% of CEO’s felt very positively about our post-secondary education schools and 89% felt there were excellent local resources available for entrepreneurs.
When asked about Oshkosh, CEOs again felt very positive (good to excellent) about the community, with 95% indicating that Oshkosh is a great place for raising a family and 92% indicating that Oshkosh is on the right track. Further, 95% believed Oshkosh has a strong, vibrant economy; 89% thought Oshkosh was business-friendly, with 87% saying it is a great place to start a business.
While optimism remains high, only 42% of the responding CEOs indicated that the state of Wisconsin is headed in the right direction, up from 36% in 2022. Only 31% indicated the U.S. is heading in the right direction in terms of the business climate, but up from 22% in 2022.
Local CEOs stated the top public policy issues facing Wisconsin are the labor shortage/the lack of qualified applicants and the rate of inflation. Local CEOs also said that rising material and construction costs along with supply chain issues continue to be a challenge.
