Local business owners are optimistic about the future of Charlottesville's economy, according to the latest survey from the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
"Our survey indicates that our members are looking at the business environment as being half-full. That's the little touch of optimism," said Danielle Fitz-Hugh, vice president of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
According to the survey, 25.7 percent of the member enterprises anticipate expansion of their businesses, compared to just 23.68 percent last year. Similarly, 51.3 percent of business owners expect to see an increase in their revenue, compared to 40.2 percent in 2009. About 19 percent of businesses expect their revenue to decrease, while the 27.27 percent felt the same last year. The expectation for higher profits stands at 44.3 percent, which is significantly higher than the 30.14 percent in 2009.
"Our member enterprises are showing incremental optimism," Chamber of Commerce President Timothy Hulbert said.
Although the United States seems to have left the recession, Hulbert said, enterprises are still cautious.
"If someone says to you we're out of a recession, and yet you see a national news report show 10 percent unemployment, you are still a little uneasy," he said.
An increase in expectations is inherently linked to an environment for secure investments and increased employment, he said.
The chamber has experienced negative effects from the economic crisis of its own, losing 200 of its 1,200 members during the last year, Hulbert said. The retention rate for members for 2010 is estimated at 77.9 percent this year, down from 84 percent last year, Fitz-Hugh said.
This is not entirely unexpected, Hulbert said, as there is a kind of ripple effect when one sector suffers from an economic downturn.
"When there is a negative impact on any business, it plays out on that business's suppliers and the people they buy from and that plays on secondary and tertiary level," he said.
Despite the slump in membership, the chamber is expecting new enterprises to join during the coming year, Fitz-Hugh said.
"Like our businesses, we are optimistic that we are retaining our members, that we're getting new members, that we are providing more service to our members so that they can take advantage of them," she said.
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