Some leaders optimistic about 2010

The Buffalo News reported that more local business leaders are optimistic heading into 2010 than they were last year, but the majority in the Buffalo Niagara region still expect things to stay gloomy or get worse, according to a survey released Wednesday.

A survey commissioned by First Niagara Bank and conducted by the Siena College Research Institute questioned business heads on their feelings about current economic conditions in their industries and in New York State, as well as their expectations for the year to come.

“We’re moving in the right direction, but we have a long way to go,” said Donald Levy, director at the Siena College Research Institute. “We are in the beginning of a slow, cautious recovery, but the general public will not feel the benefits of it immediately.”

In the poll’s overall business confidence index of 0 to 200, Buffalo Niagara scored a 79.6. That’s a 113-percent increase over last year’s score of 37.2.

When asked just about their future expectations, Buffalo Niagara scored an 87.4, increasing 88 percent over last year.

Of those surveyed, 25 percent of business leaders here said they believe business conditions in New York State will improve, more than twice as many as felt that way heading into 2009.

And while 46 percent expect conditions to get worse, that number is down from 75 percent last year. And another 28 percent expect conditions to remain the same in 2010. Read more here.