{"id":30579,"date":"2025-01-23T11:52:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T16:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=30579"},"modified":"2025-01-23T11:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T16:52:11","slug":"ccedc-projects-positive-economic-outlook-for-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=30579","title":{"rendered":"CCEDC projects positive economic outlook for 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CEO of Key Financial, Inc. Patti Brennan, CFP; CCEDC Senior Vice President of Business Development Services MaryFrances McGarrity; Director\/Senior Investment Advisor for Truist Foundations & Endowments Specialty Practice Dianne P. Manges, CFA.<\/p><\/div>\n

On the heels of the U.S. Presidential Inauguration, the region\u2019s longest-running economic outlook event was presented Wednesday by the Chester County Economic Development Council<\/a> (CCEDC) before a standing-room only audience of business executives and community leaders at Penn State Great Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttendance this year was even higher than normal, no doubt driven by business leaders looking for perspectives on what to expect in the first year of the new administration,\u201d said Mike Grigalonis, CCEDC President and COO. \u201cWe were thrilled to have Patti Brennan and Dianne Manges back this year to provide context and insights to pending changes, challenges and opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

CCEDC\u2019s 21st<\/sup> Annual Economic Outlook featured commentary by nationally renowned wealth advisor and CEO of Key Financial, Inc. Patti Brennan<\/a>, CFP, who has been a CNBC commentator and was named a Hall of Fame Advisor by Dow Jones & Company\u2019s Barron\u2019s, as well as economic specialist Dianne P. Manges<\/a>, CFA, Director\/Senior Investment Advisor for Truist Foundations & Endowments Specialty Practice. Both experts agreed the economic implications of the change in presidential administration are still unfolding, but there are some common themes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that markets move based on surprises \u2013 on the upside and the downside \u2013 and we know to expect surprises in 2025,\u201d said Brennan. \u201cThe key drivers this year for both personal and business investing will no doubt be interest rates staying higher for longer than previously anticipated, the expectation of significant tariffs as well as significant cuts in government spending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manges said, \u201cWe anticipate steady growth for the U.S. economy, but policy uncertainty remains elevated. This administration is unique in that there are a lot of policies with immediate priority that have major implications if enacted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manges pointed to tariffs, which are expected to be imposed stringently, especially on China. \u201cIn 2018 when the Trump administration enacted tariffs, the average was 3% whereas now an increase of 18% is proposed. It\u2019s a very dramatic move from where we are right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Manges says she does not expect an economic downturn. \u201cThe expectation is for the U.S. economy to grow 2.5% coming off two above-average years,\u201d Manges said.<\/p>\n

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The Chester County Economic Development Council\u2019s 21st Annual Economic Outlook on Wednesday featured expertise from CEO of Key Financial, Inc. Patti Brennan, CFP, (pictured here) who is a CNBC commentator and was named a Hall of Fame Advisor by Dow Jones & Company\u2019s Barron\u2019s, and economic specialist Dianne P. Manges, CFA, Director\/Senior Investment Advisor for Truist Foundations & Endowments Specialty Practice.<\/p><\/div>\n

Brennan said, \u201cThe threat of a recession is very low, but let\u2019s not get too warm and fuzzy. And one thing I am beginning to question is the value of investing globally. The U.S. used to represent 50% of world market capitalization and now we are about 68%. Will there be a point where international stock markets become irrelevant?\u201d<\/p>\n

For the first quarter of 2025, Brennan says, \u201cFor short-term investing like auto purchases and tuition, that money should stay safe. Bonds should also be pretty decent — not double-digit returns but they could be a good intermediate investment with a 5-year hold. For longer term investments like retirement accounts, don\u2019t get too cute. Invest it, set and forget it. Put it in growth and let it soar as long as you\u2019re at least 5-10 years away from retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manges was particularly interested in consumer spending, noting that it remains pivotal to U.S. expansion, aided by real wage growth and the still solid \u2013 but cooling \u2013 labor market. \u201cThe consumer is always pivotal to the U.S. economy and now even more so. Therefore, I\u2019m really looking at what impacts the consumer, and it all goes back to what unfolds with the new administration\u2019s proposed policies and how that might ultimately impact the consumer,\u201d Manges said.<\/p>\n

As for Artificial Intelligence, Brennan urges investors to manage their expectations. \u201cRight now we are at the peak of hype regarding AI, and in 2025 we will see a lull in economic implications as the companies that have invested so much in this technology begin to consolidate their presence, make performance improvements and cost reductions,\u201d Brennan said.<\/p>\n

CCEDC continues its 2025 programming with the 13th<\/sup> Annual SEI Energy Briefing on February 11, 2025 presented by CCEDC\u2019s Smart Energy Initiative of Southeastern Pennsylvania. More information is at www.ccedcpa.com.<\/a> You can also view CCEDC\u2019s interactive Annual Report athttps:\/\/annual.ccedcpa.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the heels of the U.S. Presidential Inauguration, the region\u2019s longest-running economic outlook event was presented Wednesday by the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) before a standing-room only audience of business executives and community leaders at Penn State Great Valley. \u201cAttendance this year was even higher than normal, no doubt driven by business leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[739,11922,10234,3162,11108],"class_list":["post-30579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-chester-county-economic-development-council","tag-dianne-p-manges","tag-economic-outlook","tag-featured","tag-patti-brennan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30580,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30579\/revisions\/30580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}