Nov. 29—ANDERSON — Even if higher interest rates and other troubling economic indicators linger into 2024, businesses should consider moving forward with investments in staffing and working capital, a leading economic journalist said Wednesday morning.
Speaking to an audience at the Madison County Chamber of Commerce's Wake Up Breakfast at Ivy Tech Community College, Gerry Dick said he recently spoke with Phil Powell, the executive director of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University.
"He told me, I'm telling businesses to dust off those playbooks and those business plans that call for investment," Dick said. "His advice is look to invest. He expects things to be on an upswing."
Dick, the host of Inside INdiana Business and owner of Grow INdiana Media Ventures, acknowledged that persistently high interest rates make it difficult for small business owners to consider loans or major purchases. But he said businesses — especially in the manufacturing sector — could begin to reap the benefits of taking calculated risks as soon as next summer.
"Manufacturing tends to lead into a recession — that's negative — but also tends to lead out of a recession in a positive way," he said. "So there's a feeling that manufacturing states like Indiana ... might have a little slow growth in the beginning of 2024, but then really take off in the second half of the year."
Locally, entrepreneurs are already beginning to explore avenues for securing capital needed for major equipment purchases as well as keeping up with competitive wages in what many still see as a workers' labor market.
"We are seeing more loan requests for staffing and working capital," said Jennifer Hall, executive director at Bankable, the nonprofit lending arm of the Flagship Enterprise Center in Anderson.
"A lot of small businesses have experienced ... staffing challenges. ... We're seeing businesses trying to get ahead of that and plan accordingly."
Madison County is well-positioned to capitalize on economic growth in surrounding counties, Dick said, because individual communities in the county are willing to share information and resources in developing projects to attract business.
"That whole regional cooperation idea — collaboration — is really important," he said. "You look around the state of Indiana at places that are succeeding — they're places that are coming together and trying to figure out what their unique selling proposition is.
"What can we do to make our city, our county a better place to live, work and play? And we're beginning to see some positive results."
Follow Andy Knight on Twitter @Andrew_J_Knight, or call 765-640-4809.