Editorial: There’s reason to have confidence
A global pandemic. A second Civil Rights era. A Russian invasion of Ukraine. At every turn, when back-to-normal seems to be in our sights, national or world events take a new and dangerous turn. It can make the day-to-day issues we face look awfully small, when put into perspective.
Yet, as we all know, these crises almost always have a trickle-down effect into many aspects of our lives, including noticeable disruptions to the way we go through our days and operate our businesses. A non-factor for decades, inflation has reared its ugly head. Supply chain logjams have created bottlenecks impacting prices, access, and delivery times. And throw on top of that what appears to be a structural labor shortage, and no business in the region has not felt the effect.
Still, business leaders in the state, and especially the Central Massachusetts region, remain optimistic.
As you can read in WBJ Staff Writer Katherine Hamilton’s story “Business confidence: Why a new index shows local employers as overly optimistic”, the Business Confidence Index from the Associated Industries of Massachusetts shows the Central Massachusetts businesses score of 57.5 on a 100-point scale in their outlook for the future (any score over 50 is measured as positive), which the highest of any region in the state. Greater Boston comes in at 52, Western Massachusetts at 54.5, and Cape Cod and the islands at 49.2. As Hamilton points out, part of the reason for this Central Mass. optimism is our region has more of the industries – manufacturing and construction – proven to be more insulated from the disruptions across the globe.
Two years ago when the pandemic started, everything looked scary. Large-scale layoffs seemed right around the corner, with fears of countless business closures. But that didn’t happen. The federal government provided needed relief, and the country and our community rallied. The Worcester Together Fund was started on a dime. Businesses shared information about government assistance. Bankers worked long hours to figure out how to get companies money. What in the past might have taken years to accomplish, took weeks. Sure, the region took some hits, and we can’t minimize the suffering of those who took the hardest knocks; but look where we are today. Companies are achieving record revenues, and startups are launching at an accelerated pace. The Greater Worcester unemployment rate of 3.9% is approaching the near-record lows set before the pandemic. You know you have it good when the biggest issue is you can’t find enough workers for all the business you want to do.
So, here we are on the edge of another crisis. While far away on a map, it's clear to have ramifications that remain unknown. Today’s high confidence score can flip to the negative in short order. But if the last few years have proven anything, our region remains resilient. Central Massachusetts businesses have been nimble and figured out ways to survive and thrive, despite the many challenges. They are likely to do so regardless of the challenges ahead.
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