Discussion on the State of the Menomonie Area Economy

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis wants to hear from your business!

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is part of the Federal Reserve System – the nation’s central bank. One of the core duties of the Minneapolis Fed is to understand economic activity across a six-state region, including northwestern Wisconsin. Ron Wirtz, Regional Outreach Director at the Minneapolis Fed, will join us on Thursday morning, February 23, at 8:00 a.m. to listen to local businesses about current economic activity at their firms and the local economy more broadly. This visit is part of the Minneapolis Fed’s outreach program to meet with more businesses face-to-face to hear about both the strengths and challenges of local economies. Ron’s primary responsibilities involve tracking and assessing current business conditions in the Ninth District regional economy, focusing on recent sales/revenue trends, employment, wages and prices, while also tracking construction and real estate markets. Ron is also a contributor to the Beige Book <https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook/> , which is a report of current economic conditions published by the Federal Reserve System every six weeks in advance of Federal Open Market Committee meetings (where the Fed sets interest rates and makes other monetary policy decisions).

Among the topics Ron would like to hear about at this meeting with local businesses:
• Recent business activity and sales
• Labor availability
• Prevailing wages, recent wage increases and the wage outlook for remainder of 2017
• Benefits and workplace enhancements: What nonwage changes, if any, are you making to attract and retain labor?
• Are you seeing any inflation/price pressure (+/-) for material (nonlabor) inputs? Have you raised prices to clients in the last 6 months? Why or why not? Do you expect to in the coming 6 months?
• What is your firm’s outlook for 2017: Are you optimistic or pessimistic?