Business leaders in Pikeville met Thursday to discuss the current state of America's economy.

Marci Rossell is the former Chief Economist for CNBC, and came to Pikeville to talk to local business leaders about the current state of the national economy.

"The recovery? People are looking for an easy fix and it's not there," said Rossell.

Rossell told the audience that the job market growth is slower than expected, and small businesses are especially struggling in the recession.

"The jobs are gonna come from small businesses. Whatever we do as a bank, or whatever we do as a county, has to support those small businesses," said Denny Dorton from Citizen's Bank.

"There's a lot of businesses struggling with the slow upturn in the economy. We are seeing some indicators that things are getting better, but it's recovering very slowly," said Pike County Chamber of Commerce President Brad Hall.

Some of those indicators are new businesses moving to the area like Steak and Shake.

Pikeville College just broke ground on a new building for the medical school, and College President Paul Patton says this will be a key to growth.

"It will add to the economy of this region and improve the health care of this region, and give students a better opportunity to be involved in the health care industry," said Patton.

Rossell says that even though it will take time for the economy to recover, people have reasons to remain optimistic.