Listen to this articleThe economic outlook of Long Island business leaders is markedly up.
That’s according to the 30th annual Long Island Economic Survey, by PKF O’Connor Davies, the accounting firm with an office in Hauppauge. The survey of 268 CEOS throughout Long Island was conducted from Sept. 16 through Nov. 4, just prior to the presidential election.
The survey’s findings were presented to 275 business leaders at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury at a Thursday morning breakfast. A panel discussion was led by PFK Partner Jeff Davoli.
“Amid countless economic, political and social shifts, it’s crucial for businesses and their leaders to understand and be prepared to adapt to these changing dynamics,” Davoli said.
“The confidence of CEOs across Long Island is up this year, and up dramatically,” said Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute, which partnered with PKF O’Connor Davies on the survey.
The survey found that “there is far more optimism, far more positivity than there is negativity in the marketplace right now. This is the highest that the index has been since 2021,” Levy said.
The survey’s “Economic Confidence Index,” which is based on a measurement designed by the Siena College Research Institute, was at 6.2 percent, up from 4.7 percent in 2023, and 4.6 percent in 2022. Still, it is lower than 2021, which had hit 6.8 percent that year.
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a panelist at the breakfast, said it was “heartening” that “the confidence level was up significantly. That being said, the numbers were still below” the pre-COVID numbers. “It’s certainly a positive that our CEOs are being very bullish in terms of where they’re thinking right now. But we’re not back to where we were pre-pandemic.”
When asked about revenue and profit expectations for the coming year, 57 percent of survey respondents, up from 50 percent last year, said they “feel as though their revenues are going to increase over the coming year,” Levy said.
The survey found that 40 percent said current business or economic conditions on Long Island were better than a year ago, while 33 percent said they were the same. Yet 27 percent said they were worse.
Now, CEOs are bracing for challenges. In the survey, 48 percent cited inflation, 45 percent said adverse economic conditions and 42 percent said healthcare costs were their top challenges.
CEOs would like elected leaders to focus on personal and business income tax reform, as well as spending cuts and infrastructure development. Other concerns include affordable housing, the migrant influx and crime.
With concern over affordable housing, 69 percent expected residential real estate prices to increase, up from 57 percent a year ago.
The need for housing in Nassau and Suffolk counties is especially evident at Habitat for Humanity of Long Island, said Diane Manders, a panelist who serves as the nonprofit’s interim CEO and executive director.
“Last year, our applications for home ownership were up 600 percent from just five years before,” she said. “We really need to address this and achieve a way to get better at it because the need for our services has never been higher than it is right now.”
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said on the panel that he is “willing to work hand and glove with the business community” to foster the economy. That includes a commitment to “promote affordable housing.” He added that his administration is working to put sewers downtown, and is pushing for funding to support infrastructure for roads. He said he is challenging Long Island Power Authority to “when we open our roads to bury [its] lines so the next storm doesn’t take everything out.” And he said, he is challenging New York State and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to direct funds from congestion pricing to electrify the Long Island Rail Road lines.five
“Investing in infrastructure is the one way to improve the productivity of any economic area,” Romaine said.
As for jobs, “hiring appears to be rebounding,” Levy said. Business leaders “want people who have the experience and the skills to step in right away.” Employers, he said “not only want to recruit people” but also offer additional training to develop them.
Those enhanced skill sets could serve the economy well, given that the survey found that 84 percent of CEOs expect to be in business five years from now.