By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

Leaders of the 21 businesses that make up the Iowa Business Council have a positive outlook for the third quarter of the year in the latest survey.

IBC president Joe Murphy says the survey overall index was up more than two points. “That being said, you know there does seem to be a great deal of uncertainty with respect to tariff policy, trade policy and even at the Federal Reserve level trying to determine what the Fed will do with respect to interest rates,” he says.

A 50 on the survey scale is positive and the latest survey is at 60 — or about even with the historical average.
“That tells us that they’re holding steady. They’re cautiously optimistic about the future of the economy. There’s not a lot of responses saying that they’re drastically cutting back on anything,” he says, “but again, you know, keeping their powder dry.”

Murphy says hiring expectations in the survey increased, despite the concerns about the business climate, showing some hope things are going to improve. “More than 30 percent of our members are actually looking to increase their employment base here in the state, which is great news. And so I think as we look. towards the future, shoring up some of this uncertainty that will allow business leaders to make decisions with respect to hiring and move forward in a in a positive way,” he says.

Murphy says federal tariffs are one thing that could turn out to be very key for businesses. “Everybody is closely monitoring the situation, even if a company is not directly impacted by tariff policies, it’s impacting the economy and therefore their business decisions,” Murphy says. “The folks who are definitely watching this with a great deal of urgency are those in the agricultural sector, so specifically getting this deal done with China is hugely important.”

Murphy says the members know the business climate has a lot of room to get better if some of the issues are solved. “There are some opportunities here, I think in the next, you know, three to four months for some action to be taken that will clear up some of that uncertainty and help and hopefully launch us into the new year with a burst of momentum and positivity,” Murphy says.

You can see the full survey at: iowabusinesscouncil.org.