Melissa is an exceptional partner in regional economic development. Her ability to coordinate seamlessly with Alliant Energy ensures that Winnebago and Worth counties are always positioned for growth. She is proactive, deeply knowledgeable, and highly collaborative- bringing her into a project early is a guarantee that things will move forward efficiently and successfully.
— Chad Hansen , Alliant Energy
Survey finds leaders of Iowa’s largest businesses have positive economic outlook
7 Jul 2026
News
The latest survey of Iowa’s largest employers finds they have a positive outlook about the state of Iowa’s economy.
Iowa Business Council President Joe Murphy said that sentiment from the leaders of Iowa’s largest companies is largely based on sales. “Even though our sales expectations declined by about a point-and-a-half from the first quarter survey, our indicator there still is more than 20 points higher than the positive threshold metric of 50 points,” Murphy told Radio Iowa, “so clocking in at more than 70 points on sales expectations is incredibly significant as we head into the second half of the year.”
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