Survey: 81 percent of Iowa manufacturers expecting domestic sales increase

Manufacturing executives, including those in Iowa, are optimistic about their companies' growth prospects, according to the 2013 McGladrey Manufacturing and Distribution Monitor. But the survey also found executives are worried about government regulation, health-care reform implementation and the federal deficit.

The recently completed survey includes responses from 1,067 industry executives, 36 of whom are from Iowa. It looks at the state of the industry to see how executives plan to grow their businesses and stay competitive.

Nationally, about 85 percent of manufacturers and distributors are optimistic about their growth prospects, especially when it comes to sales. About 83 percent expect to see an increases in U.S. sales and 63 percent anticipate a sales increases in foreign markets.

Iowa executives generally reflected the national consensus, with about 81 percent expecting an increase in domestic sales and 50 percent projecting an increase in international sales.

Additionally, the survey found that about two-thirds of companies plan to increase their work forces in the upcoming year even though most executives anticipate work force costs will rise about 10 percent due to a rise in health care expenditures.

Health-care reform was the most frequently cited threat to "significantly limit" growth, the survey found. But only about 10 percent of businesses said they planned to reduce their work forces.

More than half of employers are concerned about skills shortages, the survey found, but Iowa executives led their national counterparts in their efforts to address skills gaps through vocational and technical schools, colleges and universities, and in-house apprenticeship programs.

Companies do plan to invest more money into information technology infrastructure, but more than two-thirds of companies believe their data is at little or no risk.

"Every industry has information that some external entity wants, and new technologies make getting to that information easier than ever," said Brian Becker, partner and National Technology Consulting Leader at McGladrey, in a press release. "It's concerning that so many manufacturers and distributors feel that their data is at no or very little risk, and that so many don't have an IT risk management process in place."