Survey: Maryland Businesses Express Cautious Optimism for 2026 Following a Rough 2025

Source: NEWSWISE

Maryland’s business community endured turbulence in 2025 from rising costs, federal workforce reductions and sweeping tariff changes. Nonetheless, many firms remain cautiously optimistic about the months ahead. This, according to a new statewide survey assessing the business climate by the Center for Global Business (CGB) at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Research Professor and CGB Academic Director Kislaya Prasad led the project designed to “create a resource that can be used by policymakers, businesses and the public to guide decision-making.”

Prasad and a CGB team gathered responses from 92 Maryland businesses across sectors ranging from technology and consulting to construction and real estate. The findings, in a report titled “The Business Climate in Maryland and the Impact of Federal Policy Changes on Maryland Businesses,” show that “while current conditions are widely viewed as unfavorable, there is guarded hope for improvement in revenues, demand and employment in early 2026."

About half of the respondents reported that their firms underperformed in 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, while just under 30 percent saw improvement. Rising costs were most significant, with nearly 80 percent of firms reporting higher expenses, says Prasad. “These cost pressures translated to higher prices for consumers—a trend expected to continue.”

Click HERE to learn more.