Release Date: 03/ 01/ 2005
CONTACT: Nancy St. Pierre, (214) 614-3008 or Michelle Dimarob, (202) 554-4000
Small Employers Want Improvement in State's Business Environment
MISSOURI -- Missouri's small-business economy, the most important contributor to the state's prosperity, is stable and will be buoyed by strong sales prospects despite an overall state business climate that small-business owners say could be better, according to the Missouri Small-Business ConditionsSM a new, groundbreaking study. The report's data, which was released today by the National Federation of Independent Business/Missouri, provides an overview of small-business conditions within Missouri and compares them with neighboring states.
Like the surrounding states of Iowa and Tennessee, Missouri small employers see economic growth ahead and are hopeful a productive and small-business-friendly legislative session will spur continued economic development. However, small-business conditions in Missouri appear substantially better than in neighboring Illinois. A net 43 percent of Missouri small employers say business conditions are "good" compared to just 29 percent across the river.
"There's definitely good news with small-business owners feeling optimistic about their success during the next three months, but we must temper this news with the overall feeling that our state needs to continue to make strides to be more business friendly," said Brad Jones, NFIB/Missouri state director. "Previous administrations have made doing business here a challenge but there is every reason for optimism that our governor and legislators will turn things around."
When asked their most important business problem, Missouri small-business owners ranked insurance costs as the most serious of all conditions.
"The rising cost of insurance premiums continues to plague small business," Jones said. "While health-care insurance premiums continue to be the most costly, workers' compensation insurance premiums are quickly closing the gap. Our legislature is in the midst of critical workers' compensation reform so we are certainly hoping to see the workers' compensation numbers go down over the next several months."
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.
| Missouri Small-Business ConditionsSM | ||||||
| This chart shows the results from Missouri and its comparative standing among selected states in the region. | ||||||
| Mo. | Ill. | Iowa | Tenn. | |||
| Business Climate | Survey Date | |||||
| Overall state business environment | ||||||
| Net % supportive of small business | 2/2005 | 30 | 16 | 33 | 31 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Business conditions in market area | ||||||
| Net % "good" | 2/2005 | 43 | 29 | 37 | 47 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Net % "improving" | 2/2005 | 21 | 14 | 15 | 21 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Outlook for business | ||||||
| Net % "good" in next three months | 2/2005 | 70 | 59 | 61 | 68 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Reason for optimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 2/2005 | 50 | 43 | 42 | 46 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Lower costs | 2/2005 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Price increases | 2/2005 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Greater productivity | 2/2005 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 14 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Government policy | 2/2005 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Reason for pessimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 2/2005 | 10 | 5 | 29 | 12 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Cost increases | 2/2005 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 12 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Pressure on selling prices | 2/2005 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 6 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Lower productivity | 2/2005 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 6 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Government policies | 2/2005 | 50 | 15 | 6 | 35 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Mo. | Ill. | Iowa | Tenn. | |||
| Sales and earnings (last quarter) | ||||||
| Sales | ||||||
| Net % sales "good" | 2/2005 | 39 | 22 | 44 | 41 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Profits | ||||||
| Net % profits "good" | 2/2005 | 23 | 9 | 29 | 27 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Employment | ||||||
| Current job openings (one or more) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 16 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Per employee payroll cost | ||||||
| Net % "risen" | 2/2005 | 25 | 20 | 13 | 15 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Employee cost pressures (greater) | ||||||
| % Wages | 2/2005 | 59 | 53 | 55 | 58 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Benefits | 2/2005 | 29 | 30 | 26 | 24 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Mo. | Ill. | Iowa | Tenn. | |||
| Productivity | ||||||
| Upgraded technology/processes (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 39 | 43 | 41 | 41 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Made capital expenditure(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 44 | 42 | 46 | 40 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Made expenditure to train employee(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 38 | 43 | 37 | 31 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Capacity utilization - can increase sales 10% without new inputs | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 55 | 59 | 51 | 56 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Credit availability (last three months) | ||||||
| % All credit needs satisfied | 2/2005 | 38 | 36 | 47 | 36 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % All credit needs not satisfied | 2/2005 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % No credit needs | 2/2005 | 53 | 52 | 43 | 56 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Mo. | Ill. | Iowa | Tenn | |||
| Prices | ||||||
| Purchasing prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 2/2005 | 54 | 55 | 50 | 49 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Selling prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 2/2005 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 17 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Miscellaneous | ||||||
| Involvement in start of another business | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 10 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Single most important business problem | ||||||
| % Weak sales | 2/2005 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 9 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Taxes | 2/2005 | 14 | 7 | -9 | 12 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Employee quality/costs | 2/2005 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 12 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Insurance | 2/2005 | 17 | 21 | 19 | 14 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Big-business competition | 2/2005 | 12 | 11 | 17 | 15 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Inflation/Rising prices | 2/2005 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 12 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Credit availability/Interest rates | 2/2005 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| % Regulations/Red tape | 2/2005 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 6 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Missouri Quarterly Spotlight | |
| Over the last year, which type of business insurance has had the most rapidly rising premiums? | |
| Vehicle collision and liability | 9% |
| Workers' compensation | 18% |
| Product or professional liability | 8% |
| Property and casualty | 11% |
| Employee health | 37% |
| Don't know/Refused | 17% |
| Total | 100% |
| Did those premium increases cause you to terminate or postpone planned business investments? | |
| Yes | 22% |
| No | 69% |
| Don't know/Refused | 9% |
| Total | 100% |
The Poll
NFIB’s Missouri Small-Business ConditionsSM is a telephone survey of a random sample of Missouri 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.
