Butler University, Ice Miller LLP and Inside INdiana Business Announce Results of Annual CEO Survey

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 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.