Short-term declines, long-term gains > New England executives say region must find new sources of growth

BOSTON — The slumping New England economy should sink further this year, and the region needs new “engines of growth” to succeed industries that have lost much of their steam, business leaders said Monday.

The forecasts were presented at a symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Speakers said the economy is moving through a painful transition after robust growth in the 1980s, but they said the business climate should improve in the long term.

“While we may not be able to live forever in the glory days of leading the pack, neither do we need to fall to the rear as happened to us in earlier periods,” said Richard Syron, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

The remarks at the symposium were underscored by a survey released Monday by the New England Council, a regional business organization.

The survey questioned 292 senior executives around New England, and 71 percent of the respondents believed the economic conditions in their state would grow worse in the next 12 months.

The executives were more optimistic about the region’s economy in the next few years. Furthermore, the results contained no predictions of major cuts in work forces, research and development, capital investment and job training.