Rhode Island business owners know they have been through worse but they’re not quite ready to say that’s all behind them.
That’s the biggest takeaway from PBN’s Winter 2024 business survey.
Why not celebrate or splurge after surviving a multiyear pandemic? Well, the biannual survey found that business activity remains well below historical norms in the Ocean State. It’s tied with last winter for the worst showing since 2008, when we began the survey during the height of the Great Recession.
As this week’s cover story reports, year-over-year profits did tick up from the summer but are still far short of pre-pandemic levels.
But buoyed by easing inflation and declining recession fears, business owners are a bit more hopeful coming out of the pandemic. Expectations for the state economy are at a two-year high, though still less than half foresee improvement in the next 12 months.
Reducing the cost of doing business continues to be what businesses want most from government, with 70% of respondents identifying that issue. What’s new this winter is growing frustration with transportation infrastructure in the wake of a surprise partial closing of the Washington Bridge.
The traffic snarls that initially enraged many motorists have eased but remain despite limited reopening of two-way traffic.
It’s one more headache with an uncertain outcome for weary businesses and workers to deal with.
“I’m optimistic,” Papis Refrescos LLC owner Victor Regino said regarding the growth of his business. “But I don’t think [economic conditions are] going to get any better just yet.”