Georgia business leaders’ confidence levels are still strong, according to the 2018 third-quarter (Q3) survey results by Georgia CEO, a news source that shares the state’s most important features, videos and newswires with Georgia’s top business leaders.

The purpose of the survey is to understand how general business conditions impact and influence Georgia CEO subscribers on a quarterly basis. The survey asks participants to reflect on the business conditions of the current quarter (Q3), while looking forward to the next quarter (Q4), with their expectations for business conditions. The news outlet partners with Georgia Southern University Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research (CBAER) to prepare, distribute and analyze the survey.

In Q3 of 2018, survey participant’s views of business volume and sales were slightly below 50 percent. These views were most commonly influenced by increasing demand, government policy or changing levels of competition. Participants noted it was more difficult to find qualified employees in the labor market. This could pose a challenge for future growth at some firms.

“At this point of the business cycle, it is normal to find that some firms are having trouble finding employees,” said Ben McKay, CBAER assistant director.

When asked about general business conditions for Q4, 46 percent of respondents see conditions improving, while 44 percent believe conditions will remain the same. Overall, optimism about the future remains strong despite general business confidence slowing going into the fourth quarter.  

A convenience sampling technique was used for this study, and the questionnaires were emailed to subscribers of each of the 12 Georgia CEO daily newsletters. Georgia CEO publishes newsletters in Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Gainesville, Middle Georgia, Newnan, Rome, Savannah, Tifton and Valdosta. The survey was open from Oct. 2 to 26, with 158 valid responses recorded.