Fewer Iowa manufacturers anticipate sales growth in the third quarter of 2022, but a majority of companies plan to make capital expenditures, according to the latest Iowa Association of Business and Industry Quarterly Business Survey.

The survey, sent to ABI’s board members in early June, indicates that 48% of respondents expect sales to expand in the third quarter, compared with 60% who anticipated higher sales for the second quarter in the last quarterly survey. The quarterly survey has been conducted since December 2017.  

The second-quarter survey results show more than 70% of respondents plan to make capital expenditures in the third quarter of 2022. Also, 51% of respondents expect the number of employees in their business to grow, which is similar to the results of 50% in the first quarter of 2022.

“This quarter’s survey results reflect the national sentiment that businesses are preparing for an economic slowdown, while continuing business investment,” ABI President Mike Ralston said in a statement. “Businesses are most concerned with the substantial increase in fuel costs and continued supply chain and workforce challenges.”

Iowa employers continue to have the future of Iowa’s workforce as their focus, Ralston said. “Employers continue to see retirements within their workforce,” he said. “Business leaders are not just looking at the next quarter but at the next 15 to 20 years.”

About half of ABI’s member companies are manufacturers. The business advocacy organization is made up of 1,500 member companies of all types and sizes in all 99 counties employing more than 330,000 Iowans.

In ABI’s inaugural survey for the first quarter of 2018, the survey found that 80% of respondents expected sales to expand in 2018; 50% expected employee head count to increase; and 5% expected to make capital expenditures in the first quarter of 2018.

Five years ago, workforce recruitment and retention was the top issue survey respondents said they planned to address in the first quarter.