Release Date: 03/ 01/ 2005
CONTACT: Nancy St. Pierre, (214) 614-3008 or Michelle Dimarob, (202) 554-4000
Strong Sales Set Up Positive Second Quarter but Other States Performing Better
COLORADO -- Colorado's small-business economy, the most important contributor to the state's prosperity, is stable but not as strong as neighboring Arizona, according to the new Colorado Small-Business ConditionsSM report, a groundbreaking survey. The inaugural report's data, released today by the National Federation of Independent Business/Colorado, provides an overview of small-business conditions within Colorado and compares it with select states in the region.
Like Colorado, Missouri and Oregon small employers report economic growth ahead and are hopeful a productive and small-business friendly legislative session will spur continued economic development. However, small-business conditions in neighboring Arizona appear substantially better than in Colorado. A net 41 percent of Colorado small-business owners say business conditions are "good" compared to 59 percent in Arizona. Missouri and Oregon were included for comparative purposes because they are similar size states west of the Mississippi, which are part of the 26-state survey.
"While it's encouraging to see our business conditions are positive, we remain cautious because there are many issues before the General Assembly that could greatly impact these numbers," said Vickie Agler, NFIB/Colorado state director. "Colorado should be leading the way as a business-friendly state. This study shows some of our neighbors could end up with jobs and economic growth that should be in Colorado."
In the NFIB/Colorado Small-Business ConditionsSM report, which will be released quarterly, Arizona overshadowed Colorado in both sales and earnings for the last three months, with a net 55 percent of Arizona small employers indicating their sales were "good" compared to only a net 38 percent in Colorado. Oregon also had significantly higher sales numbers than Colorado. From a revenue standpoint, a net 29 percent of Coloradoans surveyed were positive about their profits versus a net 37 percent of those in Arizona.
For information about the Small-Business ConditionsSM project and other small-business research studies conducted by the NFIB Research Foundation, visit www.NFIB.com/research. Future surveys will be released on June 1, Sept. 1 and Dec. 1. On those dates, the survey will be compared to the previous quarter, as well as to neighboring states.
| Colorado Small-Business ConditionsSM | ||||||
| This chart shows the results from Colorado and its comparative standing among selected states in the region. | ||||||
| Colo. | Ariz. | Mo. | Ore. | |||
| Business Climate | Survey Date | |||||
| Overall state business environment | ||||||
| Net % supportive of small business | 2/2005 | 35 | 32 | 30 | 29 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Business conditions in market area | ||||||
| Net % "good" | 2/2005 | 41 | 59 | 43 | 39 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Net % "improving" | 2/2005 | 27 | 35 | 21 | 23 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Outlook for business | ||||||
| Net % "good" in next three months | 2/2005 | 68 | 79 | 70 | 66 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Reason for optimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 2/2005 | 43 | 56 | 50 | 37 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Lower costs | 2/2005 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Price increases | 2/2005 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Greater productivity | 2/2005 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Government policy | 2/2005 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Reason for pessimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 2/2005 | 25 | 20 | 10 | 31 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Cost increases | 2/2005 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Pressure on selling prices | 2/2005 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Lower productivity | 2/2005 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Government policies | 2/2005 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 23 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Colo. | Ariz. | Mo. | Ore. | |||
| Sales and earnings (last quarter) | ||||||
| Sales | ||||||
| Net % sales "good" | 2/2005 | 38 | 55 | 39 | 48 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Profits | ||||||
| Net % profits "good" | 2/2005 | 29 | 37 | 23 | 28 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Employment | ||||||
| Current job openings (one or more) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 16 | 26 | 17 | 15 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Per employee payroll cost | ||||||
| Net % "risen" | 2/2005 | 13 | 22 | 25 | 16 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Employee cost pressures (greater) | ||||||
| % Wages | 2/2005 | 57 | 53 | 59 | 55 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Benefits | 2/2005 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 24 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Colo. | Ariz. | Mo. | Ore. | |||
| Productivity | ||||||
| Upgraded technology/processes (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 45 | 50 | 39 | 43 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Made capital expenditure(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 44 | 53 | 44 | 48 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Made expenditure to train employee(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 40 | 47 | 38 | 42 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Capacity utilization - can increase sales 10% without new inputs | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 58 | 59 | 55 | 54 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Credit availability (last three months) | ||||||
| % All credit needs satisfied | 2/2005 | 39 | 33 | 38 | 39 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % All credit needs not satisfied | 2/2005 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 3 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % No credit needs | 2/2005 | 52 | 53 | 53 | 51 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Colo. | Ariz. | Mo. | Ore. | |||
| Prices | ||||||
| Purchasing prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 2/2005 | 50 | 55 | 54 | 54 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Selling prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 2/2005 | 15 | 24 | 21 | 22 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Miscellaneous | ||||||
| Involvement in start of another business | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 8 | 19 | 12 | 9 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Single most important business problem | ||||||
| % Weak sales | 2/2005 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 10 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Taxes | 2/2005 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 8 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Employee quality/costs | 2/2005 | 8 | 16 | 10 | 11 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Insurance | 2/2005 | 19 | 15 | 17 | 15 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Big-business competition | 2/2005 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 18 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Inflation/Rising prices | 2/2005 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 9 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Credit availability/Interest rates | 2/2005 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Regulations/Red tape | 2/2005 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 13 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
The Poll
NFIB’s Colorado Small-Business ConditionsSM is a telephone survey of a random sample of Colorado small employers regarding business conditions within the state. “Small employer” is defined here as employing between one and 250 people (not including the owner(s)) in a for-profit business. Each edition of the survey has a minimum of 350 respondents. The sampling error is ± 5 percentage points. Data are collected quarterly in the months of February, May, August and November, beginning in February 2005. The MRCGroup of Las Vegas conducts the survey for the NFIB Research Foundation.
The Sponsor
The NFIB Research Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) organization that provides policy-makers, media, educators, small-business owners and other interested parties empirically based information on small business and small-business owners. The Foundation is affiliated with the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small- and independent-business advocacy organization, and is located in Washington, D.C.
