2010 Indiana CEO Survey

What does it take to start, grow and sustain a business in Indiana?  How important is foreign competition?  What’s the state’s role in economic development and what initiatives offer the greatest growth opportunities?

For scholars, executives, elected officials and reporters covering the business community, these questions create a dialogue and a foundation on which we can help build a strategic plan to drive our state’s economy.  It is also an opportunity to hear directly from Indiana executives about their challenges and the issues that impact their businesses, from health care costs and corporate reputation to customer loyalty and retention.

Visit the 2010 "State of Our Business" Web site.

Job satisfaction and hiring top managers remain top workforce concerns for Indiana executives.  Finding good management may be a concern, but the ability to find the majority of their workforce isn't causing Indiana leaders restless nights.  Non-skilled, manufacturing and bio-tech/life science workers are abundant.  Engineers and paraprofessional are also easily found.

Although there is a surplus of workers, there may be hope for job hunters.  CEOs of small, medium and large companies are optimistic about hiring in 2010.  We'll see if the hiring in 2010 makes the pool of surplus workers a little shallower.  We'll need to wait for the 2011 report to find out!

CEOs are less optimistic in 2010 than in 2009 about private funding in Indiana.  Interestingly, Indiana leaders believe the availability of public funding increased slightly in 2010.

CEOs are also positive about the state's ability to attract businesses to Indiana.  Which means that the state is doing a good job of "selling" Indiana to out-of-state businesses.  The state can bring in business, but can they keep them?  According to the report, yes.  The bottom line is Indiana is making the Hoosier state fertile ground for companies to plant deep roots that will flourish.

Study highlights from 2010 include the following

•  Corporate reputation is back on top as the highest ranked business issue. In 2009 the highest ranked issue was customer loyalty and retention.
•  Cost of living is still seen as the strongest advantage that Indiana has over neighboring states and has been on the rise as the strongest advantage since 2007.
•  CEOs appear optimistic about 2010. There is a stronger likelihood they will pursue adding jobs, green development, outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, new alliances, and a variety of other forward looking or growth oriented activities, when compared to 2009.
•  CEOs continue to remain positive about Indiana’s ability to attract business to the state.
•  Perceptions regarding the strength of education programs in the areas of advanced manufacturing and alternative energy have increased since 2009.
•  CEOs report that workers lowest in demand are manufacturing, non-skilled and bio-tech/life science workers.

View the 2010 CEO Survey Full Report.

View the 2010 CEO Survey Excutive Summary.

CEOs still perceive Indiana to have a major advantage over other states according to the 2010 CEO survey. Cost of living, overall business environment and the available labor force were the leading areas in which Indiana has a competitive advantage. Though cost of living is not statistically higher than in previous years, it has been nominally on the rise for all four years the survey has been conducted. The K-12 education system and innovation continue to be ranked as the strongest disadvantages for Indiana compared to neighboring states. There were several areas of "improvement" in the minds of CEOs when compared to 2007. Economic incentives for business, innovation, cost of living and overall business environment are perceived as better advantages then they were in 2007. 

As the economy continues to improve, many Indiana companies that survived the recent recession are beginning to look at options for expanding their businesses outside of Indiana. In fact, the 2010 CEO survey found that many companies are likely to pursue expansion opportunities outside of Indiana over the next 18 months. Ice Miller attorney Dale Stackhouse comments on a number of legal issues companies need to consider before expanding outside of Indiana or overseas to include corporate and tax issues, employment issues as well as trademark and potential currency/foreign exchange risks. To view the full article by Dale Stackhouse click here.

For the fourth year, Inside INdiana Business is proud to partner with the Butler University College of Business and Ice Miller on “The State of Our Business-A Perspective from Indiana Executives.” The results of the survey of more than 400 chief executive officers, senior executives and business owners from around the state are in and the news is, well, actually not that bad.

Since 2007, one issue has consistently dominated the list of top issues for CEOs – corporate reputation.  As Warren Buffett reportedly said, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.  If you think about that, you'll do things differently."  Just ask BP, Enron or Arthur Andersen.  Even in times of major economic change, the 2010 CEO survey found that CEOs, for the most part, maintain a relatively consistent structure of priorities. 

Since we first conducted the survey in 2007, we've seen the explosion of social media Web sites including LinkedIN, Twitter, Facebook and everything from Advogato to Zooppa.  In this emerging virtual world, reputation and reputation management will likely play an even bigger role as customer complaints and employee grievances hit cyberspace and the potential to reach millions of consumers in mere seconds. 

If you thought good news traveled fast, bad news travels even faster.

The Butler University College of Business, Ice Miller and Inside INdiana Business announced today the results of their fourth annual statewide survey of Indiana's chief executive officers, senior executives and business owners. The survey, "The State of Our Business – A Perspective from Indiana Executives," provides insight and understanding on the significant issues facing the state's business leadership.

The project partners identified 2,420 CEOs and other executive officers as potential respondents. Of those contacted, 428 responded to a comprehensive online survey designed by the Butler University College of Business.

The project partners identified 2,420 CEOs and other executive officers as potential respondents. Of those contacted, 428 responded to a comprehensive online survey designed by the Butler University College of Business.

"The survey found some reasons for optimism," stated Gerry Dick, president of Grow INdiana Media Ventures, LLC and host of Inside INdiana Business. "For example, many CEOs report there is now a stronger likelihood they will pursue adding jobs compared to their outlook in 2009." The survey found that central Indiana companies are more likely to add jobs as are companies with less than $5 million in revenue and those between $10 million and $50 million in revenue.

"We're now seeing several trends emerge as we start to analyze the data over a four year period," noted Byron Myers, chief managing partner, Ice Miller. "Many of the priorities of Indiana executives, with the exception of customer loyalty and retention, received importance ratings that are statistically equal to ratings received in 2009 as well as all past years of the survey. This may be an indication that even in times of major economic change CEOs maintain a relatively consistent structure of priorities."

"This year's CEO survey shows that the general business mood is improving but most CEOs are hesitant to implement solid growth strategies until the economy settles down somewhat," said Bill O'Donnell, director of graduate programs, Butler University College of Business. "We are also pleased that now, with four years of data, we can start tracking trends and see the direction CEOs view the state's economy to be moving."

Study highlights from 2010 include the following:

•  Customer reputation is back on top as the highest ranked business issue. In 2009, the highest ranked issue was customer loyalty and retention.
•  K-12 education and innovation continue to be ranked as the strongest disadvantages for Indiana as compared to neighboring states. Cost of living is still seen as the strongest advantage that Indiana has over neighboring states and has been on the rise as the strongest advantage since 2007.
•  CEOs believe the availability of private funding sources is significantly less compared to 2009.
•  A new question was added in 2010 regarding CEOs' plans to hire workers. There is optimism among CEOs that they will hire in 2010, as adding full-time and part-time workers was ranked above the midpoint on the scale.
•  Having enough time is still CEOs most challenging issue, although keeping up with technology has moved up in the ranking.
•  New questions about social media were added to the section relating to information technology. One-third of CEOs said they have a policy concerning social media usage for employees.

The project partners will continue to benchmark the results from the 2010 survey and monitor, discuss and analyze the state's progress. A full summary of the report can be found online at: www.inceosurvey.com.