Rhode Island business owners need a jolt. That’s the biggest takeaway from PBN’s 2026 Winter Business Survey.
A malaise that took hold last year amid repeated federal efforts to claw back funding, rising health care costs and other economic challenges has continued into the new year.
“There is not a hell of a lot of excitement,” opined Edward M. Mazze, a distinguished professor of business administration at the University of Rhode Island, who helped PBN develop the biannual survey in 2008.
He puts some of the blame on upheavals in the national political environment, which he says especially affect local owners of small and midsized businesses.
“But we are [also] in an economy that really isn’t growing,” he said. “No one has plans to buy major equipment, hire more workers, or increase in size.”
The 1-in-4 survey respondents seeing improved business activity compared with the previous quarter is also at an all-time survey low.
That may be one reason annual concern about rising health costs has spiked this winter. Another is a growing concern about the state’s health care system, which includes at least two struggling hospitals and primary care shortages.
But trepidation over what may be looming in the economy doesn’t mean business owners are giving up. Nearly half still think their own businesses will do better this year than last. While far from the more than 80% survey high of a decade ago, it’s still a hopeful sign for the broader economy that they are still in the fight.