featured insight
featured insight
Minnesota Manufacturing Survey Shows Drop in Key Projections
While Minnesota’s manufacturers share broad long-term confidence about the future prospects of their companies, they are concerned about the impacts of COVID-19 on their businesses and on the broader economy.
The State of Manufacturing® is an annual survey of 400 Minnesota manufacturing executives that Meeting Street Insights conducts on behalf of the Enterprise Minnesota, a Minneapolis consulting organization. For the 2020 survey, interviews were conducted between March 2 and March 23.
Because President Trump declared a National Emergency for COVID-19 on March 13, the survey provided a snapshot of how manufacturers’ attitudes changed as March progressed. Lynn Shelton, vice president of marketing at Enterprise Minnesota, says the manufacturing survey “quickly became a valuable opportunity. We were able to see a real-time reaction of manufacturers’ to the news.”
Fears of Recession Among Manufacturers are Up from Last Year
Study Highlights
Before March 13 Emergency Declaration
- 9 percent of manufacturers expect the company to slip into a recession
- 6 percent of manufacturers expect to experience a decline in gross revenue
- 8 percent of manufacturers expect to experience a decline in profitability
After March 13 Emergency Declaration
- 46 percent of manufacturers expect the country to slip into a recession
- 23 percent of manufacturers expect to experience a decline in gross revenue
- 26 percent of manufacturers expect to experience a decline in profitability
Based on the study highlights, manufacturers are significantly concerned about the negative economic impact of COVID-19. As a total average, the survey respondents indicated they expect the economy will be flat (39%). But the study also revealed that fears about recession, revenue decline, and profitability went up by close to a factor of four after the announcement, indicating that recession fears are likely to overtake the industry.
This data comes from Meeting Street Insights interviews with 400 manufacturing executives conducted March 2 – March 23, 2020. Researchers completed 58% (N=234) of the interviews between March 2–12 and 42% (N=166) between March 13–23.
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