The Richmond Fed’s Industry Roundtables are essential to our understanding of economic conditions and developments in our District. Conversations with business and community leaders, who are well-versed in their own business and industries and have a keen sense of how their business relates to the broader economy, provide insights that cannot be found in data alone.

For example, these conversations help us discern what might be driving strength or weakness in a particular economic indicator. They also give us an early sense at how dynamics might be shifting before these changes show up in the data. The robust interactions among roundtable participants also enhance our understanding of the linkages between different sectors of the economy. These insights provide monetary policymakers with a rich and timely view of economic conditions in the region.