State chamber poll shows support for Christie run, optimism on economy

A 56 percent majority of New Jersey businesses expect their revenues to rise in the next 12 months, and two-thirds support a presidential bid by Gov. Chris Christie—but first they want him to finish his work in New Jersey.

On the governor, chamber members said they would consider supporting Christie if he threw his hat in the ring for the U.S. presidency, but only after his term as governor ends in 2013, ruling out a 2012 Christie presidential bid.

On the financial front, one in four respondents said they expect their company’s revenues to rise more than 5 percent in the coming year. About half the respondents expect their profits to rise in the next 12 months, with only 17 percent seeing their profits rising more than 5 percent.

“The results tell us our members see significant challenges still to be overcome, but they believe New Jersey is finally headed in the right direction,” said chamber CEO Thomas A. Bracken. “They are telling us they expect continuing improvement in New Jersey’s economy and that this year is better than last, and next year will be better still.”

Survey respondents were less optimistic about the state’s jobs picture, with 56 percent expecting no change in the number of employees in their own company this year and 29 percent envisioning more hiring, with one in four predicting less.

“Employment is traditionally a lagging indicator of economic recovery and that seems to be the case in this survey,” said Bracken. “While half our members expect the unemployment picture to remain unchanged this year, it is notable that among the other half, considerably more companies expect an increase in the work force than expect to see a decrease.”

When asked to predict the state of New Jersey’s economy a year from now, slightly more than half of respondents said they expected moderate growth. Only 8 percent see the economy getting worse over the next 12 months.

Asked their view of the state’s economy since Christie took office, six in 10 credited him for the state’s emerging economic turnaround. Of those, slightly more than half characterized this improvement as “moderate.” About a third said there has been no change.

One in three respondents expressed moderate or extreme concerns about the cost of energy and its impact on the state’s economic recovery.

The chamber’s inaugural Business Climate Survey was conducted in late March, and will be done twice a year, with the next one in September. A total of 118 members participated in the March survey: four in 10 are presidents and CEOs and six in 10 said they are senior-level executives. Half of the respondents represent companies with fewer than 50 employees and nearly half have revenues above $10 million.

Email Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com