What will the impact be of the economy on your particular industry?

Mona Bond
environmental specialist, Capitol Communications Inc. 
3 –  stay about the same
The construction industry is stable and I anticipate things will stay the status quo. 

H.A Gross
sales manager, Plaza Printers
5 – improve dramatically
I think the easing of taxes will be good for all industry in the country. I believe this will help bring industry back to the United States. I also believe that as companies expand their owners will invest more in promoting the company and this will translate to more business for the printers and advertising specialty product sales professionals.

Chris Sackett
managing partners, BrownWinick Law Firm
3 – stay about the same
Our industry (legal) will continue to be active and dynamic. The sluggish ag economy dampens certain activity, but also stimulates creativity and entrepreneurial activities. Non-ag transactions will continue at a rapid pace.

Todd Kielkopf
president, Kielkopf Advisory Services
4 – improve slightly
Startup tech will continue to get funding in an expanding economy and high-valuation equity markets.

Eric Burmeister
executive director, Polk County Housing Trust Fund
4 – improve slightly
Dramatic urban population growth is creating a real demand for more and varied types of housing.  It will take good planning and allocation of resources to meet that demand.

Sarah Bailey
project manager, Visionary Services
2 – regress slightly
I think we’ve been riding the wave of all the great policies implemented by the Obama administration. That wave is going to crash soon since the Trump administration has been rolling back and destroying our government. It will soon affect the economy, I’m sure. I’m interested to see what, if anything, happens with the rollback of net neutrality. I’m in the web development industry so it could have a very huge impact. 

Heidi Swanson
senior mortgage lender, Lincoln Savings Bank
4 – improve slightly
I believe we are still in an uptick for real estate and mortgage loan activity due to expanding job opportunities and population growth here.

Michelle Book
CEO, Food Bank of Iowa
2- regress slightly
As the agricultural economy continues to worsen, so do the conditions for many rural citizens.  With fewer job opportunities and shrinking disposable income, there will be increasing pressure on food pantries, feeding programs, and those food banks which provide the food.

Dan Corron
sales and leasing associate, Denny Elwell Co. 
2 – regress slightly
With everything that I’m seeing I feel that we are at the peak of this abnormally long economic cycle. What eventually will cause or be blamed for a downturn (i.e., subprime mortgage crisis, dot-com bubble) is still to be determined.  But a 42 percent increase in the Dow since Trump won the election for no logical rationale should be concerning. My gut says to get lean, sell what you have that is risky, and go into this year with cash on hand. It’s cash in a downturn that makes or breaks you.

Russ Frazier
president, Anawim Housing
3 – stay about the same
We will seek to take a balanced approach to development, looking in under-served markets and for opportunities that align with the community’s interests and needs. We hope to create more affordable housing options outside of main urban areas to allow for greater choice and a decentralization of social-economic groups. Communicating the benefits of this approach to suburban communities remains a challenge.

Park Woodle
owner, Home Check
3 – stay about the same
Housing will show stable pricing and demand due to limited supply of listings. The changing income tax scenarios will take time for the public and corporate to grasp. The ag sector will continue tight profit margins. A loss of just one major trade partner could be mega trade dollar Iowa losses.

Joseph Benesh
president and CEO, Ingenuity Co. 
4 – improve slightly
As the economy grows, I feel there will be a high demand for companies to strategically look at how they expand and evolve.

Adam Kaduce
vice president, R&R Realty Group
4 – improve slightly
Commercial real estate development activity continues to grow. As workers raise their expectations for space, developers will respond with new product.

Jim Plagge
president and CEO, Bank Iowa
3 – stay about the same
The banking sector has experienced good growth and generally strong credit quality in recent years, resulting in improved profitability. Deposit acquisition has been a challenge, however. I expect a continuation of all these trends in 2018.

Don Frazer
director of credit, Heartland Co-op
4 – improve slightly
We are an agricultural business. So far we have been able to maintain profitability during lower commodity prices, but the future is challenging.  

Kevin Lentz
president, Performance Marketing
4 – improve slightly
A growing economy is always positive for marketing partners as organizations begin to focus outward and on marketshare growth.

Todd McDonald
president, ATW, New Horizons Training
5 – improve dramatically
Investment into developing the talent of employees has been seen as an expense in the past. With more favorable tax considerations it will be easier for businesses to invest in their human resources.

Tej Dhawan
chief data officer, Principal Financial Group
4 – improve slightly
Investment in technology, at all scale and size, will increase both in dollars invested and complexity achieved. Augmented and artificial intelligence solutions will permeate many industries – especially those focused on intense research, product development and deep-data analytics.

Kevin Crowley
manager, Iowa Realty Commercial
4 – improve slightly
I believe we will see apartment development slow, industrial/distribution space continue to expand, and the office and retail markets expand at a slow steady pace.

Mandy Houk
president, Marketing Consulting
4 – improve slightly
When the economy increases, discretionary 
marketing and training budgets increase. It will be a good year for business consultants.

Jim Green
principal, Mercer
3 – stay about the same
Insurance companies will continue to see great demand for services, and depending upon the balance between underwriting conservatism and desire to add more new business growth, should likely see a similar trajectory in terms of 2018 economic impact.

Dan Cornelison
senior vice president – development, Hubbell Realty Company
3 – stay about the same
Temporary overbuilt status of apartments downtown will be absorbed. Development in Des Moines will continue at good pace.

Heidi Mannetter
assistant professor of practice in marketing, Drake University
2 – slightly regress
Higher education, particularly private colleges and state universities, is already feeling economic pressure.  Demographic contraction (there are not enough Gen Z students to replace millennials) and fewer international students are a couple of reasons why many universities and colleges are reevaluating their traditional business models.

Jessica Dunker
president and CEO, Iowa Restaurant Association
4 – improve slightly
When consumers have more cash in hand, that is good for Iowa’s hospitality industry. It often translates into one more lunch out or a few more splurges when dining out.

Michael Wolnerman
senior sales executive, ReMy Health
5 – improve dramatically
For ReMy Health, getting the expensive specialty medicine in the hands of the patients faster is one of our goals and will see this happening.

Greg Edwards
president and CEO, Catch Des Moines
4 – improve slightly
Positive growth in the visitor/tourism industry.

Alex Taylor
associate director, Executive Education, University of Iowa
2 – regress slightly
I have little faith that the Legislature will make the necessary investment in higher education to grow our economy, despite the positive impact and documented ROI this commitment has delivered year-over-year.

Jeff Plagge
president and CEO, Northwest Financial Group  
4 – improve slightly
I think the overall Iowa economy will be fine, especially in the metro markets, but the macro numbers and progress will be held back by the impact of a struggling agricultural sector. We will also continue to see a growing economic divide between metro, county seat rural and very rural. In regard to the banking industry, it will be all about concentrations. Banks with heavy ag and rural concentrations will likely feel the impact more than their urban peers.

Marcia Martin
owner, Relationship Fundraising
5 – improve dramatically
Good nonprofits with a solid and understandable mission will be able to build a case that donors can take the extra money they have because of the tax cuts and send some of it to charities of their choice. Studies show that most gifts to charities are given because of the mission and not related to tax deductibility, and people love to determine where their money goes.

Dana Ramundt
chairman, Dana Co. 
4 – improve slightly
The insurance industry will remain relatively resilient due to the amount of capital. However, as always, specific results are subject to weather-related catastrophes.

Ryan Fry
sales manager, Copy Systems Inc. 
4 – improve slightly
As technology continues to evolve and businesses have capital to invest, there will be a continued need for our local technical partnership and support.

Carole Chambers
CEO, West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce
5 – improve dramatically
We’ll add more new members, engage more active sponsors and we’ll see greater participation at events. Business development efforts for both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations will continue to soar.

Lisa Cassady
public relations manager, Iowa Corn Growers Association
2 – slightly regress
As long as the farm economy continues to struggle, our state economy will continue to face challenges. Many Iowans don’t fully realize how closely the two are linked. It is not only the 1 in 5 Iowans whose jobs are directly or indirectly connected to agriculture, but whole communities depend on agriculture to survive. Farming, food and feed processing, and every other area agriculture touches generates revenue for our state. When agriculture struggles, our state government and business community struggle from that loss in revenue.

Paul Bishop
president and CEO, Association of Boards of Certification
3 – stay about the same
The economy should have very little impact on the water environment unless we get a major infrastructure bill. That remains to be seen.

Joe Hrdlicka
executive director, Iowa Biotechnology Association
4 – improve slightly
Increased innovation in the areas of technology and information management will continue to drive growth in various areas of life science including agriculture and health.