MTSU survey: Tennessee business leader’s outlook is much more optimistic 

MURFREESBORO, TN — Heading into spring, Tennessee business leaders have a much more positive outlook about their industries, a sentiment trend that “has flipped” in the past year, according to results from the latest Tennessee Business Barometer by MTSU’s Jones College of Business. The latest statewide index, which measures business leaders’ perceptions of the current and future economy, produced a score of 431 for winter 2024, the highest since spring 2021 and almost 100 points higher than the fall barometer results . The inaugural survey in July 2015 registered an index of 325. Conducted in partnership with the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Tennessee Business Barometer is an online opinion survey that tracks an overall index and four sub-indices: 1.) current outlook, 2.) future outlook, 3.) business/firm performance and 4.) employment outlook. Index scores are calculated from the percentages of positive and negative responses to a series of questions about perceptions of the economy. “One year ago, Tennessee business leaders had become significantly concerned about the uncertainty surrounding the economy and business environment,” noted Michael Peasley, assistant professor of marketing and director of the university’s Office of Consumer Research, which oversees the index. “However, in the past 12...