Release Date: 09/ 01/ 2005
CONTACT: Michael Diegel or Melissa Sharp, (202) 554-9000
Business Conditions, Overall Environment Believed to be Unchanged
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Taxes replaced the cost of insurance as the most frequently cited single most important problem faced by small business, according to the latest Ohio Small-Business ConditionsSM report. The data, which was released today by the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio, provides an overview of small-business conditions within Ohio and compares them with neighboring states.
Eighteen percent of the state’s small employers said that taxes were their most important problem, compared to 11 percent in June, while the number who considered the cost of insurance to be the single most important problem dropped from 18 percent in June to 13 percent in the latest report.
“Clearly, the early data shows that the tax reform package enacted this year did not address the concerns of small business,” said Ty Pine, NFIB/Ohio state director. “And we can see from other survey results that small-business owners have adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward Ohio’s approach to small business.”
The net percent (percent positive minus percent negative) of small-business owners who believe that the state’s overall business environment is “supportive” remained stable at a net 11 percent but relatively low compared to Indiana (net 28 percent), and comparable to Michigan and Pennsylvania (net 8 percent and net 10 percent respectively). In Ohio, the net percent of those who reported business conditions in their market to be “good” was a net 20 percent, lower than Indiana (net 29 percent) and Pennsylvania (net 30 percent), but much better than Michigan at a net 2 percent.
The net percent of those reporting that both sales and profits were “good” also remained stable. However, there are indications that pressure on profits may be coming, as a net 55 percent said their purchasing prices had increased, while a net 16 percent said they had raised their selling prices.
On a positive note, more than one-third of respondents have invested in capital equipments and employee training, and 17 percent of respondents currently have job openings.
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.
| Ohio Small-Business ConditionsSM | ||||||
| This chart shows the results from Ohio and its comparative standing among selected states in the region. | ||||||
| Ohio | Ind. | Mich. | Pa. | |||
| Business Climate | Survey Date | |||||
| Overall state business environment | ||||||
| Net % supportive of small business | 8/2005 | 11 | 28 | 8 | 10 | |
| Prior qtr. | 8 | 32 | 7 | 22 | ||
| Business conditions in market area | ||||||
| Net % "good" | 8/2005 | 20 | 29 | 2 | 30 | |
| Prior qtr. | 23 | 31 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Net % "improving" | 8/2005 | 2 | 9 | -5 | 1 | |
| Prior qtr. | 4 | 12 | -4 | 0 | ||
| Outlook for business | ||||||
| Net % "good" in next three months | 8/2005 | 49 | 56 | 40 | 52 | |
| Prior qtr. | 51 | 52 | 52 | 53 | ||
| Reason for optimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 8/2005 | 50 | 45 | 42 | 41 | |
| Prior qtr. | 40 | 47 | 38 | 37 | ||
| % Lower costs | 8/2005 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Prior qtr. | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||
| % Price increases | 8/2005 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | |
| Prior qtr. | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | ||
| % Greater productivity | 8/2005 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | |
| Prior qtr. | 17 | 12 | 12 | 18 | ||
| % Government policy | 8/2005 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | |
| Prior qtr. | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | ||
| % Seasonal/Weather | 8/2005 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | |
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | - | ||
| Reason for pessimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 8/2005 | IC* | IC | IC | IC | |
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | IC | ||
| % Cost increases | 8/2005 | IC | IC | IC | IC | |
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | IC | ||
| % Pressure on selling prices | 8/2005 | IC | IC | IC | IC | |
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | IC | ||
| % Lower productivity | 8/2005 | IC | IC | IC | IC | |
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | IC | ||
| % Government policies | 8/2005 | IC | IC | IC | IC | |
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | IC | ||
| Ohio | Ind. | Mich. | Pa. | |||
| Sales and earnings (last quarter) | ||||||
| Sales | ||||||
| Net % sales "good" | 8/2005 | 34 | 37 | 22 | 43 | |
| Prior qtr. | 33 | 35 | 24 | 35 | ||
| Profits | ||||||
| Net % profits "good" | 8/2005 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 22 | |
| Prior qtr. | 17 | 19 | 6 | 21 | ||
| Employment | ||||||
| Current job openings (one or more) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 8/2005 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 21 | |
| Prior qtr. | 17 | 16 | 16 | 19 | ||
| Per employee payroll cost | ||||||
| Net % "risen" | 8/2005 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 21 | |
| Prior qtr. | 9 | 14 | 11 | 15 | ||
| Employee cost pressures (greater) | ||||||
| % Wages | 8/2005 | 50 | 57 | 50 | 44 | |
| Prior qtr. | 52 | 55 | 52 | 51 | ||
| % Benefits | 8/2005 | 33 | 26 | 31 | 36 | |
| Prior qtr. | 30 | 30 | 30 | 31 | ||
| Ohio | Ind. | Mich. | Pa. | |||
| Productivity | ||||||
| Upgraded technology/processes (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 8/2005 | 40 | 41 | 38 | 38 | |
| Prior qtr. | 40 | 38 | 39 | 43 | ||
| Made capital expenditure(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 8/2005 | 40 | 42 | 35 | 38 | |
| Prior qtr. | 39 | 38 | 39 | 42 | ||
| Made expenditure to train employee(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 8/2005 | 39 | 39 | 36 | 38 | |
| Prior qtr. | 35 | 35 | 42 | 40 | ||
| Capacity utilization - can increase sales 10% without new inputs | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 8/2005 | 50 | 49 | 53 | 50 | |
| Prior qtr. | 50 | 57 | 51 | 52 | ||
| Credit availability (last three months) | ||||||
| % All credit needs satisfied | 8/2005 | 37 | 35 | 31 | 37 | |
| Prior qtr. | 36 | 38 | 34 | 43 | ||
| % All credit needs not satisfied | 8/2005 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | |
| Prior qtr. | 7 | 6 | 10 | 4 | ||
| % No credit needs | 8/2005 | 51 | 53 | 55 | 52 | |
| Prior qtr. | 51 | 50 | 49 | 45 | ||
| Ohio | Ind. | Mich. | Pa. | |||
| Prices | ||||||
| Purchasing prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 8/2005 | 55 | 55 | 55 | 59 | |
| Prior qtr. | 51 | 57 | 50 | 59 | ||
| Selling prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 8/2005 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 18 | |
| Prior qtr. | 17 | 17 | 15 | 18 | ||
| Miscellaneous | ||||||
| Involvement in start of another business | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 8/2005 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Prior qtr. | 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | ||
| Single most important business problem | ||||||
| % Weak sales | 8/2005 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 9 | |
| Prior qtr. | 12 | 9 | 16 | 13 | ||
| % Taxes | 8/2005 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 15 | |
| Prior qtr. | 11 | 15 | 11 | 11 | ||
| % Employee quality/costs | 8/2005 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | |
| Prior qtr. | 8 | 4 | 5 | 10 | ||
| % Insurance | 8/2005 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
| Prior qtr. | 18 | 18 | 20 | 19 | ||
| % Big-business competition | 8/2005 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 14 | |
| Prior qtr. | 13 | 15 | 11 | 13 | ||
| % Inflation/Rising prices | 8/2005 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | |
| Prior qtr. | 15 | 13 | 10 | 13 | ||
| % Credit availability/Interest rates | 8/2005 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| Prior qtr. | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | ||
| % Regulations/Red tape | 8/2005 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | |
| Prior qtr. | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | ||
* Insufficient cases
| Ohio Quarterly Spotlight | |
| If you were to give your employees a compensation increase equivalent to $1 per hour, how would you do it? Would you give it to them in... | |
| Wages or salary | 60% |
| Health benefits | 8% |
| Retirement benefits | 6% |
| Paid leave | 3% |
| Some other way | 8% |
| Wouldn't give increase | 4% |
| Don't know/Refused | 12% |
| Total | 100% |
| If your employees could choose, how would they like to receive a compensation increase of $1 per hour? Do you think they would like the increase in... | |
| Wages or salary | 72% |
| Health benefits | 10% |
| Retirement benefits | 4% |
| Paid leave | 2% |
| Some other way | 3% |
| Wouldn't give increase | 1% |
| Don't know/Refused | 8% |
| Total | 100% |
The Poll
NFIB’s Ohio Small-Business ConditionsSM is a telephone survey of a random sample of Ohio 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.
