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Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
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Special Questions

Survey Period: [ – ]
Published on:

This section features timely and topical questions asked by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond as part of its monthly business surveys. These special questions vary each month and are designed to capture insights on emerging trends, economic disruptions, policy changes, or other current events impacting business conditions. The responses help provide a more nuanced understanding of the evolving economic landscape beyond our standard survey metrics.

October 2026 Special Questions Results

In October 2026, we asked regional business executives about their involvement in data center construction, in addition to our quarterly questions on Business Attitudes on Pricing and Inflation. The results below are based on 374 total responses, 126 of which are from the manufacturing survey and 248 of which are from the non-manufacturing survey.

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1. How, if at all, is your firm involved in the construction of data centers?
This includes implementation or maintenance of AI.

Topic: Artificial Intelligence, Operations, Investments

Respondents may select multiple responses
Total (n=374) Manufacturing (n=126) Non-Manufacturing (n=248)
Design and Engineering 3.2% 4.8% 2.4%
Construction or Building 8.6% 11.9% 6.9%
Equipment Supply 4.5% 9.5% 2.0%
Materials Supply 6.7% 13.5% 3.2%
Professional or Consulting Services 9.1% 1.6% 12.9%
Financing or Investment Services 4.5% 0.8% 6.5%
Operations and Maintenance 4.0% 6.3% 2.4%
Energy Supply 3.7% 6.3% 2.4%
Other 4.8% 5.6% 4.4%
Not Involved in Any Capacity 68.7% 68.3% 69.0%

2. Approximately what share of your revenue is generated from your direct or indirect involvement in data center construction?

Topic: Artificial Intelligence, Revenue

Asked if respondents indicated involvement with data center construction.
Total (n=116) Manufacturing (n=39) Non-Manufacturing (n=77)
Less than 10% 68.1% 56.4% 74.0%
10% to less than 25% 19.0% 25.6% 15.6%
25% to less than 50% 3.4% 2.6% 3.9%
50% to less than 75% 2.6% 7.7% 0.0%
75% to less than 90% 1.7% 2.6% 1.3%
90% to 100% 0.9% 0.0% 1.3%
Not sure 4.3% 5.1% 3.9%
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