Business Community Poll Finds Confidence, Optimism

Despite an uncertain national economy, nearly 80% of Ventura County business owners or managers responding to a bank poll predicted steady gains in sales and profits in 1988 over 1987.

Forty-five percent of the 461 businesses that responded to the Ventura County National Bank survey also predicted they would hire new employees in 1988, and 16.5% of those expected staffing increases of more than 10%.

“Our businesses are extremely bullish,” said Bill McAleer, chairman and chief executive officer of Ventura County National Bankcorp, the bank’s holding company. “If the trend they are experiencing continues, businesses operating in Ventura County could have a tremendous 1988.”

Frustration With Government

The bank’s survey, which was released Tuesday, is the first in a series asking local businesses for their outlook.

Nearly a quarter of Ventura County’s businesses need more space to operate, the survey said. More than one-third of those businesses needing space are expecting to buy it this year and nearly two-thirds said they intended to lease additional space. Twenty percent of the companies plan to move, but 91.5% of those plan to stay in Ventura County, according to the survey.

Twelve of the 461 businesses responding to the survey planned to move out of Ventura County, but many more expressed frustration with local government.

More often than not, respondents said they find it difficult to do business in the county and called local government the primary deterrent to growth and expansion, McAleer said.

“Many of the comments surrounding this question implied that city government is more interested in telling people how to run their business than in implementing a spirit of cooperation,” McAleer said.

Nearly 39% said their city governments did not represent the business community, the survey said. Nearly 32%, however, said the opposite.

The most prominent frustrations cited were the county’s perceived slow-growth policies, and delays and expenses related to red tape and bureaucracies.

5,000 Questionnaires

In January and March, the Oxnard-based bank sent questionnaires to one-sixth of the 30,000 identifiable businesses in the county, or 5,000 companies. The surveys were sent to businesses with 10 or more employees, including manufacturers, professional services, energy-related industries, restaurants, service companies and wholesale distributors.

Agriculture, real estate and recreation industries were not included in the survey because other county groups already analyze and research these areas, said Richard Ball, the bank’s senior vice president who directed the survey.

Although the bank’s survey received less than a 10% response, the results can be viewed as “very representative” of the county’s current economic situation, McAleer said. The 461 companies that responded have about 13,000 employes--or about 9% of the county’s work force.