At the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance’s 2025 Economic Outlook event, Compass Group North America CEO Palmer Brown, Bank of America Board Chair and CEO Brian Moynihan, and Advocate Health CEO Gene Woods shared their perspectives on the economy, national policy shifts, technology, and the road ahead for the Charlotte Region. CLT Alliance Strategic Advisor Andrea Smith moderated their conversation, which took place in front of an audience of more than 650 members of the business community.
Moynihan opened by underscoring what sets the region apart from the rest of the country.
“It is a unique place with a unique connectivity between the school system and the business community [and] between the political system and the business community that should be nurtured and admired,” he said.
Economic trends
Moynihan noted that U.S. economic growth has been stronger than many predicted earlier in the year. He pointed out that concerns around trade and tariffs have eased and that projections ended up higher than expected. Bank of America’s team anticipates the Federal Reserve to cut rates soon and the economy to see continued moderate growth.
He shared that forecasts call for the federal funds rate to settle around 3% by the third quarter of next year, and the U.S. economy is projected to grow by about 2.4%. That projection reflects expectations that trade tensions will stabilize, AI investment will continue, and deregulation will have an effect.
Consumer spending remains strong. Moynihan said spending over the holiday weekend was 5–6 % higher than last year, a trend that was consistent through the fall.
Changing care models
On the health care front, Gene Woods said the current health policy environment is the most uncertain he has experienced in nearly 35 years. He highlighted the major implications of the H.R.1 bill for Medicaid, especially for Advocate Health, the largest Medicaid provider in North Carolina, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Woods said shifting policies are forcing Advocate Health to rethink how the company provides care. He emphasized the urgency of addressing mental health gaps, particularly in rural areas where he described “a mental health desert.” By the end of 2025, Advocate Health plans to make virtual mental health services available in every rural primary care location it serves. Virtual primary care is also reducing wait times to less than two days, compared to the national average of 24 to 26 days.
Operational flexibility
Palmer Brown shared that Compass Group grew 9% organically in 2025 and that inflation, while challenging, created opportunities for operational strategies like menu engineering and labor flexibility. He said their structure of self-operated entities helps them mitigate cost pressures for clients.
When asked about supply chain challenges, Brown described the avian flu’s impact on egg availability. Compass worked closely with suppliers to protect availability and stabilize costs.
Woods and Moynihan added that disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Helene reinforced the importance of supplier redundancy and preparedness.
Preparing for the future
At Compass, technology expectations are rising quickly, from mobile ordering to frictionless payments, although only about a quarter of Compass’s revenue flows through digital platforms today, Brown said. Behind the scenes, artificial intelligence is helping employees redirect time toward more important work. It’s a similar story for the health care sector.
“We are big believers that AI is going to change everything that we do in health care,” Woods said.
Advocate Health uses AI to generate physician notes from audio, saving doctors about an hour a day, and its imaging tools have reduced average ER brain bleed detection time from 24 minutes to 3 minutes. He added that all tools are tested in non-patient environments before deployment.
Moynihan described how Bank of America built its own AI-driven search engine, Erica, after early fixes produced irrelevant results. Erica now handles the equivalent of 11,000 employees’ work and serves 2 million customers daily. Moynihan did caution that large language models must be used carefully due to risks involving accuracy, personalization, and data security.
Advocate Health is using the technology of the future but is also focused on inspiring and training future health care professionals, and Woods said it starts with getting kids excited about the industry. Brown emphasized the critical role of Compass’s unit managers—the leaders who run individual accounts—and said it typically takes two to three years for them to reach full proficiency. Now, the company is using technology and AI to accelerate the unit managers’ development.
Why the transportation referendum matters
Woods connected the recently passed Mecklenburg County transportation referendum to health equity, noting that 4 million patients nationally miss medical appointments each year because they lack transportation. He said the region must ensure the referendum’s benefits lift all communities.
Moynihan emphasized transportation, safety, and livability as essential to attracting the young workforce that fuels economic growth. He also said housing will remain an important focus as companies continue hiring.
Brown reflected on how past infrastructure decisions shaped Charlotte’s trajectory, observing that Compass’s decision to headquarter in Charlotte 30 years ago was influenced by the airport’s nonstop service to London.
“The decisions we make now will make the difference decades down the line,” Brown said.
Looking ahead
The discussion ended with a mix of humor and optimism.
“Keep eating,” Brown joked as he encouraged the audience to support the home teams, attend fun events, and enjoy the food Compass provides.
Woods said the Charlotte Region has an opportunity now to come together in so many different ways, including transportation. Using his son’s words, he said, “Charlotte can be a place where America does America best.”
Moynihan joked, “Eat, use our credit card when you are,” and reflected on how the region consistently comes together in moments of opportunity and challenge.
“That is America. That is what’s good about America,” Moynihan said.
Citizen of the Carolinas Award
The event concluded with Lynn Good receiving the 2025 Citizen of the Carolinas Award. The award is the highest honor given by the CLT Alliance and is given to an individual who, through years of accomplishments, has risen to support all who do business in the Charlotte Region, in areas including civic leadership, public policy, and economic growth.
Good is the former chair and CEO of Duke Energy Corporation, one of the nation’s largest utility companies. She led the Fortune 150 company as she redefined the customer experience, simplified its portfolio to deliver value to customers and shareholders, and set a long-term strategy to invest in critical infrastructure in a way that supports growth and economic development while reducing carbon emissions.
Pat Rodgers, last year’s Citizen of the Carolinas, presented Good with the award. Good thanked her Duke Energy colleagues, the CLT Alliance, and the leaders who preceded her. She described Charlotte as a community shaped by extraordinary leadership and emphasized the need for continued civic involvement.
“If this growing, vibrant community is going to realize its fullest potential, it’s going to take all of us,” Good said.
