For the fourth time since March of 2020, UNI's Institute for Decision Making (IDM) and Strategic Marketing Services (SMS) have partnered with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) to complete a statewide survey assessing the current economic conditions and ongoing impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on Iowa’s businesses and organizations.

The survey was launched in late March and closed the middle of April. Over 2,600 businesses and nonprofit organizations completed the survey. Respondents were from all 99 Iowa counties and 432 different communities. 

Nearly 60.0% of the respondents stated they were still being negatively affected due to the lasting impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Some industry sectors are being impacted more than others with the Accommodation and Food Services (70.8%), Health Care and Social Assistance (69.3%), Manufacturing (67.4%) and Wholesale Trade (67.2%) sectors having the highest percentage of employers being negatively impacted.
 
A significant challenge for respondents is that they are currently experiencing or anticipate experiencing within the next year negative disruptions within their supply chain. The top concerns respondents have include inflation (64.3%), workforce availability (50.6%), revenue loss (36.0%) and decreasing consumer confidence/spending (31.0%).
 
The statewide executive summary is now available, and the rural business report and the nonprofit report will soon be available at this link. If you are interested in having a local report created, please contact Drew Conrad. Communities, counties or regions with 50 or more respondents qualify.

IDM and SMS's work on this fourth Iowa Business Impact Survey was once again supported through UNI's EDA University Center that is funded through the US Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration.