1. 2014 Business Outlook Survey Results

2. Business Economic Survey Your Target Market:□ Fargo-Moorhead □ Minnesota/ North Dakota□ Midwest□ Nationwide□ International Number of Employees:□ 1-4□ 5-19□ 20-99□ 100-499□ 500+ Business Type:□ Agriculture□ Mining□ Construction□ Manufacturing □ Transportation, Warehousing □ Wholesale Trade□ Retail Trade □ Finance, Insurance, Real Estate □ Business & Profess. Services□ Health Services □ Leisure/Hospitality□ Non Profit□ Other ___________ Business Classification: □ Business to Business □ Business to Consumer□ Both Changes in 2012 to 2013 & Expected Changes for 2014 Sales RevenueOperating Costs Capital ExpendituresProfitability Number of EmployeesCompensation Prices for Raw MaterialsPrices Received Business Segments ____ Surveys Sent ____ Surveys Responses ____ Response Rate

3. Type of Business

4. Business Segments

5. Business Changes from 2012 to 2013 DecreaseNo ChangeIncrease Diffusion Index* Diff. Index 2011-12 Sales Revenue18.7%11.6%69.7%51.0%61.8% Prices Received for Products/Services7.7%31.4%60.9%53.2%50.7% Prices Paid for Raw Materials2.6%35.5%61.9%59.3%69.5% Operating Costs as a % of Revenue14.9%16.9%68.2%53.3%48.3% Employee Compensation2.5%20.9%76.6%74.1%79.3% Capital Expenditures8.3%40.4%51.3%43.0%52.5% Profitability17.5% 65.0%47.5%50.7% Number of Employees7.6%48.1%44.3%36.7%37.9% * The Diffusion Index is the percentage of respondents reporting an increase minus the percentage reporting a decrease. A positive index indicates expanding activity, while a negative index indicates declining economic conditions.

6. Business changes 2011-2014

7. Percent of Businesses Reporting Large Changes from 2012 to 2013 (7 percent or more)

8. Factors Positively Affecting 2013 Performance

9. Top 5 Factors Positively Affecting Performance Rank20122013 1A Strong State EconomyDomestic Sales Increase 2 A Strong State Economy 3Lower Operating Costs 4Technology Changes 5Political Stability

10. Top 5 Factors Negatively Affecting Performance Rank20122013 1Higher Operating CostsStaffing Issues 2Domestic Sales ShortfallDomestic Competition 3 Higher Operating Costs 4OtherDomestic Sales Shortfall 5Staffing IssuesOther

11. Expectations of 2014 Performance

12. Factors Expected to Adversely Impact Business in Next 12 Months (average rank in parentheses)

13. Historical Unemployment Rate (source: ND Job Service)

14. Difficulty in Hiring Qualified Workers (average rank in parentheses)

15. Presentation slides available at: FMWFChamber.com starionfinancial.com ndsu.edu/mgmt_mrkt Special thanks to NDSU Department of Management and Marketing for assistance with survey collection and analysis