Venture Southland business services manager Alistair Adam said a survey the agency conducted revealed 74% of businesses were positive about Southland's economy and business environment and 84% were positive about their own business.
Similar to 2017, 85% of businesses do a significant part of their business within Southland, 30% with Otago and 17% with Canterbury.
While just 8% of businesses export, 44% are in the export supply chain. A total of 21% of agriculture, fishing and forestry businesses, which combined comprise the province's largest sector, export.
For the first time since the business survey began in 2014 Southland businesses were reporting employing more people than in the previous year.
''This year, 32% of businesses reported employing more people, which, when compared to 24% in 2014, shows significant growth,'' Mr Adam said in a statement.
However, the survey highlighted recruitment and retention of staff continued to be a significant issue for businesses, 50% of them having challenges recruiting the right staff, Mr Adam said.
In the separate monthly survey by the Otago Southland Employers Association, recruitment and employment outlooks have been the main concern for companies during the past two years, especially in construction, manufacturing and aspects of hospitality and tourism at times.
Mr Adam said Venture Southland's labour market team and the ongoing work of Southland Youth Futures had made significant contributions towards the employment boost.
''For the third year in a row, more businesses are adapting their employment practices to recruit young people [and] women and are working to retain older people in the workforce,'' Mr Adam said.
Aside from 32% of businesses employing more people, Mr Adam said a record 50% of businesses were planning to increase staff levels during the next year, which was up 7% on 2017 expectations.
During the past year, 63% of Southland businesses had implemented a new form of digital technology, up from 47% in 2017, and two-thirds of businesses now had a website and one third had at least one social media platform.
Mr Adam said the quality of broadband and mobile services remained an ongoing concern for Southland businesses, with a third of participants expecting the quality of communications services to impact on their business within the next three years.
Venture Southland's fifth annual survey involved 350 businesses over April-May.
