Keynote addresses economic uncertainty at 2015 Economic Forecast Breakfast
NORWICH – Officials in the areas of business, nonprofit and local government gathered at the American Legion Post 189 in Norwich on Wednesday for the annual Economic Forecast Breakfast sponsored by NBT Bank and Commerce Chenango.
Every year, the Economic Forecast Breakfast provides a venue for leaders from a broad gamut to discuss the major triumphs and tribulations of the past year, and to focus on the potential challenges for the year ahead. Branching off last year’s theme of “cautious optimism,” keynote speaker Kenneth Entenmann, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for NBT Bank, centered this year’s message on discovering why, despite seemingly good economic growth, consumers today are still on alert.
According to Entenmann, the economy today has seen more prosperity than it has in years. Unemployment is down, the housing market has shown resiliency, and interest rates are still low, he said.
“We’ve got lift off. Things are better since the crisis of 2008 and 2009 – but it just doesn’t feel that well,” said Entenmann, pointing to reasonable economic growth in the last year. “Everyone is still cautious and kind of struggling a little bit. So the question is, why? There’s still a great amount of uncertainty.”
According to Entenmann, fickle attitudes toward the economy may be caused by a number of factors, including misleading or just misinterpreted unemployment figures, a shaky global economy, and a concept that interest rates in the U.S. will eventually skyrocket. There’s also concern about the number of people leaving upstate New York, he added, citing data from EmpireCenter.org which reveals more than 1 million have left the state over the last 10 years.
“That really matters,” he said. “That means we have less clients at our bank, you have less clients at your business, there’s less people to pay property taxes and school taxes, and it really becomes a bit of spiral.”
What this means for the coming year, according to Entenmann, is that despite positive news, confidence in the economy is likely to ebb and flow in the coming year.
Wednesday’s event was also a chance for NBT Bank President and CEO Martin Dietrich to tout NBT’s growth across the north east over the last year. The 158-year old financial institution now spans six states – new to Maine in 2014 – with a total 160 locations, more than 400,000 customers, nearly 1,850 employees, and an asset size of approximately $7.8 billion making it the 83rd largest bank in the country.
Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Criag also highlighted the chamber’s accomplishments and offered a glimpse of what it has planned for 2015. The agenda for Commerce Chenango includes continued efforts to improve overnight accommodations in the county, local workforce development and collaborations between employers and educational institutions, marketing the industrial property on O’Hara Drive in the City of Norwich (to be left vacant when Norwich Aero moves out of the facility in 2016), and revitalization of the Utica Main Line railroad.
Every year, the Economic Forecast Breakfast provides a venue for leaders from a broad gamut to discuss the major triumphs and tribulations of the past year, and to focus on the potential challenges for the year ahead. Branching off last year’s theme of “cautious optimism,” keynote speaker Kenneth Entenmann, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for NBT Bank, centered this year’s message on discovering why, despite seemingly good economic growth, consumers today are still on alert.
According to Entenmann, the economy today has seen more prosperity than it has in years. Unemployment is down, the housing market has shown resiliency, and interest rates are still low, he said.
“We’ve got lift off. Things are better since the crisis of 2008 and 2009 – but it just doesn’t feel that well,” said Entenmann, pointing to reasonable economic growth in the last year. “Everyone is still cautious and kind of struggling a little bit. So the question is, why? There’s still a great amount of uncertainty.”
According to Entenmann, fickle attitudes toward the economy may be caused by a number of factors, including misleading or just misinterpreted unemployment figures, a shaky global economy, and a concept that interest rates in the U.S. will eventually skyrocket. There’s also concern about the number of people leaving upstate New York, he added, citing data from EmpireCenter.org which reveals more than 1 million have left the state over the last 10 years.
“That really matters,” he said. “That means we have less clients at our bank, you have less clients at your business, there’s less people to pay property taxes and school taxes, and it really becomes a bit of spiral.”
What this means for the coming year, according to Entenmann, is that despite positive news, confidence in the economy is likely to ebb and flow in the coming year.
Wednesday’s event was also a chance for NBT Bank President and CEO Martin Dietrich to tout NBT’s growth across the north east over the last year. The 158-year old financial institution now spans six states – new to Maine in 2014 – with a total 160 locations, more than 400,000 customers, nearly 1,850 employees, and an asset size of approximately $7.8 billion making it the 83rd largest bank in the country.
Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Criag also highlighted the chamber’s accomplishments and offered a glimpse of what it has planned for 2015. The agenda for Commerce Chenango includes continued efforts to improve overnight accommodations in the county, local workforce development and collaborations between employers and educational institutions, marketing the industrial property on O’Hara Drive in the City of Norwich (to be left vacant when Norwich Aero moves out of the facility in 2016), and revitalization of the Utica Main Line railroad.
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