MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Tennessee business leaders are feeling bullish following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency.
The latest Business Barometer report from Middle Tennessee State shows the largest single-quarterly gain in the barometer’s history, jumping from 177 points last fall to 470 points in January.
MTSU’s Dr. Tim Graeff says business leaders expect Trump to improve the business environment.
“Specifically, when we ask them what affect Donald Trump’s victory will have on business regulations, 68 percent of them said that they expect those regulations will go down.”
Dr. Graeff says it appears that confidence will translate into more investment and more hiring here in Tennessee.
“We asked them five specific questions about their particular firm in terms of their expectations for their growth, investments, sales, profitability and inventories, and a net increase in all five of those.”
Graeff says the challenge for President Trump will be to make changes quickly enough to meet those high expectations.
“If things start slowing down and these regulatory changes or reductions don’t take effect as soon as they would like they’re confidence might dip down a little bit, but right now they’re feeling very optimistic about the future.”
The Tennessee Business Barometer survey is conducted quarterly and surveyed 66 business leaders statewide.