California small-business survey has bright spots amid gloom
California’s small-business owners worry about the economy, regulatory burdens and taxes, but they’re also concerned about the deteriorating quality of public education and crumbling roads and other public works.
Those are the findings of an annual survey of 1,067 small-business executives just released by Small Business California, an advocacy group.
Employers -- just over half of them with 19 workers or less -- have trouble finding capable staff and then have trouble navigating clogged freeways, said Scott Hauge, a San Francisco insurance broker who is Small Business California’s founder and president.
Those problems as well as broader economic issues contributed to 65% of those surveyed saying that business conditions in California are “pretty seriously off in the wrong direction.”
Nevertheless, that glum reaction is an improvement on the previous year’s survey results when 70% of the participants said the state was going the wrong way.
“While they’re still frustrated, the number is better this year,” Hauge said.
He said he particularly was heartened that 31% said they planned to hire more people in the next six months.
The most disappointing finding of the survey?
Sixty-five percent of respondents said they had never contacted their state lawmakers or the governor’s office on a small-business issue, Hauge said.
“If we want to have a voice, we need to do better on this,” he said.
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