LP Gas, December 2011
2011 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Nearly 85 of economic experts surveyed expect the economy to grow at a meager 2 or less over the next 12 months The number of companies that plan to hire more workers fell from 42 to 30 National Association for Business Economists as quoted in Builderonline 10 24 11 Continued from page 17 background of their businesses their customer communities and their years of experience not merely political party leaning In fact we asked retailers on the survey how their business had been changing in the past year Seeing the percentages of responders reporting various aspects of their businesses having worsened from the previous year they have reason to doubt a deadlocked Washington will provide timely solutions for the economy to trickle down to their business anytime soon In this years SOI survey questionnaire we asked retailers 35 questions most having multiple answer possibilities Altogether the responses we received provided nearly 60000 data points During our planning of the questionnaire we realized that this year it had to address more than how each retailer This October consumer confidence fell to its lowest since 2009 felt about their business within the context of their territory We had to ask about even more than the condition of the propane retailing industry We had to ask how pervasive the condition of our country and Washington were to their business And so they told us The topical arrangement of this report the economy regulatory environment current propane retailing market supply availability the rural nature of propane sales the agriculture market and retailer future expectations provides glimpses into the bumps and potholes along the road from the front door of your retailing operation Some are saying that recovery is just a matter of confidence but confidence follows cash flow not the other way around Weekly Standard Lawrence Lindsey 10 17 11 18 LPGas December 2011 www LPGasmagazine com
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