A‘Goldilocks’ economy

By Tom Dennis

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Minnesota Chamber agrees:

“We are seeing from our Chamber members, and I think you’re seeing this in surveys as well, that businesses are very optimistic,” said Beth Strinden Kadoun, vice president for tax and fiscal policy at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

North Dakota Chamber officials feel that way, too:

“I think from an economic and a business standpoint, we are going to see some significant investments in North Dakota,” said Brent Bogar, government affairs consultant and lobbyist with the Greater North Dakota Chamber.

At Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., the Mid-American Business Confidence Index has soared to its highest level in seven years.

And in Bismarck, N.D., the sense is that those companies throughout the region that see savings from federal tax reform will buy equipment, boost wages and/or take other actions to put the money to good use.

“That’s the feeling we are getting,” said Randy Heller, certified public accountant and partner with Widmer Roel, and the taxation committee chair for the North Dakota CPA Society.

“Most business owners that I’ve talked with, if they have the opportunity with additional cash flow to reinvest back into their company, they’re going to do so.

“They want their company to grow,” Heller continued.

“And in the Midwest, we want both our businesses to succeed and our employees to succeed with us. We want everything to grow together.”

Weeks have passed since President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law on Dec. 22, and many companies still are sorting out the implications.

But while the long-term outlook for the U.S. economy remains cloudy, interviews and a review of forecasts around the Dakotas and western Minnesota make the short-term prospects clear: