UA Survey Reveals Education-Workforce Training Top Issue Facing State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Education, including workforce training, is the top issue facing the state, according to a survey of Alabama’s state business executives conducted by University of Alabama researchers.

The other issues gathered from the survey are competence in government, economic and business development, job growth, healthcare costs and infrastructure improvements.

The “Alabama Business Confidence Index” panelists voiced their opinions about the top issues facing the state and the top issues facing their companies in a survey conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research at UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce in November 2014.

The Alabama business leaders surveyed perceived company finances and development as the top issue facing their companies. Government taxation, regulation and uncertainty was ranked second, followed by the lack of a qualified workforce, economic recovery and healthcare costs.

Each quarter, business executives across Alabama take the Alabama Business Confidence Index survey. Many ABCI panelists (84 percent) use the results as a general indicator of local or regional economic outlook.

Nearly 56 percent of business executives also compare personal projections to others’ viewpoints, and 43 percent use the ABCI results for background information for estimating future trends. Additionally, 30 percent of business executives use the ABCI results in short-term planning.

The ABCI panel is open to business executives across the state.

Registration and current and historical results are available on the ABCI website. Newsletters with results are provided for Alabama and for the Birmingham-Hoover, Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery metro areas. Panelists can take the Q2 2015 survey March 1-15.