By Bill O’Driscoll, Reno Gazette-Journal

Northern Nevada business leaders remain strongly pessimistic about the economy and the prospects for recovery, the Sierra Region Economic Outlook Mid-Year Business Survey shows.

After nearly 63 percent of respondents rating economic conditions as poor or very poor, experts this month said the findings serve notice that change, from infrastructure to education, is needed to pull Northern Nevada’s business sector out of the recession.

“It’s another wake-up call for diversification,” said Brian Bonnenfant, project manager at the Center for Regional Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. “We can’t have all our eggs in the construction and tourism basket. We’re not there yet. We’re struggling to find that next silver bullet.”

The center and the UNR College of Business sponsored the biannual online survey of more than 7,700 area business leaders, taken July 7-Aug. 2.

The survey drew 689 responses, the highest return in the seven years since it was first circulated.

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