Roundtable with Ron Wirtz of Federal Reserve Bank
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis wants to hear from your business!
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is part of the Federal Reserve System – the nation’s central bank. One of the core duties of the Minneapolis Fed is to understand economic activity across a six-state region, including Minnesota. Ron Wirtz, Regional Outreach Director at the Minneapolis Fed, will join us on Friday morning, January 20, at 10 a.m. to listen to local businesses about current economic activity at their firms and the local economy more broadly. This visit is part of the Minneapolis Fed’s outreach program to meet with more businesses face-to-face to hear about both the strengths and challenges of local economies. Ron’s primary responsibilities involve tracking and assessing current business conditions in the Ninth District regional economy, focusing on recent sales/revenue trends, employment, wages and prices, while also tracking construction and real estate markets. Ron is also a contributor to the Beige Book, which is a report of current economic conditions published by the Federal Reserve System every six weeks in advance of Federal Open Market Committee meetings (where the Fed sets interest rates and makes other monetary policy decisions).
Among the topics Ron would like to hear about at this meeting with local businesses:
- Current business activity over the past two months. How is business of late compared to last year at this time, and to what degree? What factors are pushing these results?
- Labor availability: Do you have the labor you need? If not, why not, and what types of labor are you struggling to find?
- Prevailing wages, and wage pressure: Are wages rising, and if so, by how much? What’s your outlook on wages going forward?
- What nonwage changes, if any, are you making to attract and retain labor?
- Are you seeing any inflation/price pressure (+/-) for material (nonlabor) inputs? Have you raised prices to clients in the last 6 months? Why or why not? Do you expect to in the coming 6 months?
- What is your firm’s outlook for 2017: Are you optimistic or pessimistic? Why? What factors (+/-) will have the biggest influence on how profitable your business in the near and intermediate future?
This will be an informal, 60-minute roundtable conversation with Ron. Insights from this meeting are confidential, and will go directly to Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who is a voting member of the FOMC starting in January 2017. Insights will also contribute to the Minneapolis Fed's portion of the Beige Book.
Date and Time
Friday Jan 20, 2017
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CST
Fees/Admission
Free must RSVP