SBJ Economic Growth Survey: Publisher's Note

Springfield Business Journal’s 2021 Economic Growth Survey discussions made their debut last week with the first forum held at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on July 14. The survey itself appeared in its first iteration in 2019 and was developed with the help of an active steering committee comprising city economic development leaders with a desire to fill key information and data gaps for the purpose of planned growth, problem solving and discovery. H2R Market Research brought the tools and expertise that powers the SBJ Economic Growth Survey and brings the data to life.

This special issue of Springfield Business Journal focuses on a local business confidence index derived from three consecutive years of data collected from a Springfield area business population that was pre-pandemic, early COVID-19, and now in the post vaccine and early stages of recovery. What we learned is that local business confidence is at an all-time high since first measured in 2019. Does that ring true for you?

As I headed into the first forum discussion, I was a skeptic. Yes, I’m optimistic about the future and believe that commerce is on the rise, but I attributed at least some of my optimism to the fact that my business had just weathered the worst storm imaginable and the only direction to travel was up and out. What you are about to read may convince you that there is so much more to be optimistic about.

At the forum and in this issue, we heard from businesses like CloudPano that are thriving because of the evolution taking place in the way we are conducting our businesses. Likewise, service and product companies like Travellers House Coffee LLC and MaMa Jean’s Natural Foods Market LLC have figured out how to circumvent supply shortages and capitalize on meeting customer needs in other areas. There’s also the economic and physical progress that is planned, started or continuing in our community certain to catalyze growth and prosperity.

I encourage you to read and then lean in and be a part of future forum discussions. It is up to us to impact what happens next.

*Survey sample size of 309, with a +/- 5.6% margin of error and 95% confidence interval