Northwest Ceos Remain Optimistic

Chief executive officers of companies around the Pacific Northwest are strongly optimistic both for their companies’ prospects and for the regional economy, a survey by a brokerage house indicates.

The nonscientific survey by Piper Jaffray Inc. found that of the 39 CEOs who responded, 95 percent believe the outlook for the region’s economy is good. Ninety-one percent indicated confidence in the prospects for their own businesses in the next year.

In the survey, results of which were released Tuesday, questionnaires were sent to 55 regional CEOs. For the series of questions, they were asked to rate their feelings on a scale of 1-to-7, with 1 being most negative and 7 most positive.

Some 73 percent of the respondents said they planned to add employees over the next 12 months, while 23 percent indicated employment would stay the same. None indicated there would be significant layoffs.