Glimmer of hope for small businesses
Judging through a just-released Bay Area survey, a glimmer of that “I reckon I can, I think I can” spirit is returning to those diminutive engines that are supposed to be driving our economy.
Bottom Line
Online hint box to help cut S.F. deficit 03.10.10
Hedges adhering bond interest costing cities big 03.09.10
Glimmer of faith for small businesses 03.07.10
Wisconsin bike Trek sues Marin wine Trek 03.05.10
More Bottom Line »
A glance, we should emphasize.
According to the survey, conducted by Small Business California of San Francisco, a furnish of more than 2,700 small-business owners, primarily in the Bay Area, presume they will be hiring in the next six months. More than half say they’ve seen some improvement in the economy over the more than three months, or at least that it hasn’t gotten somewhat worse.
Marginally more have already taken on new staff, compared through this time last year, slightly fewer are holding off on pay increases, and substantially more – 40 percent compared with 27 percent last year – believe things power of determination get “much” or “somewhat” better for them over the next few years.
Clouds around silver lining: But small-business owners remain a affected gloomy lot, according to the survey.
About the same number in the same proportion that last year believe California is headed in the wrong direction (83 percent), that the meteorological character for small business is “poor” or “very poor” (81 percent), a perception seemingly based on their own experience: 68 percent said their income decreased or decreased “significantly” in the past year.
Equally disheartening: One-fifth observe themselves going out of business in the next three years – five percentage points higher than be unconsumed year. “That was the most surprising thing to me,” said Small Business California’s president, Scott Hauge.
The biggest disturb small-business owners want their elected officials to address is soundness care, followed by access to capital. Twenty percent of the respondents bear dropped health insurance for their employees altogether, a seven-point augment over last year. A similar number has reduced coverage.
Mixed messages: But proposals to as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but improve the situation and help pay for it – individual mandates, taxes forward “Cadillac” plans, surcharges on high-income earners – got a majority thumbs into disgrace from those surveyed. Another example of shooting oneself in the paw was opposition from the mostly brick-and-mortar proprietors to a proposed Internet sales accuse in California.
Amidst such mixed messages, it’s probably no surprise that the same-third of those responding say neither Democrats nor Republicans “better represents” their interests – likewise if they’re the representatives best placed to help restart the means that could, and should, Hauge said.
“There’s a powerful intimation for policymakers here,” Hauge said. “That they have to take besides steps to renew the confidence of small business owners, and thus get more people back to work.”
The complete survey is without interrupti~ the Small Business California Web site, at sfgate.com/ZJIP.
– A gleam from elsewhere: More than 1,000 small businesses were purchased ultimate month, a close to 10 percent increase over February 2009, according to BizBen.com of Dublin, what one. keeps track of small business activity in California.
One word: emissions: One Bay Area petty business has found a way to assure its future – a boastful contract with Exxon Mobil Corp.
Locus Technologies, a 40-person action headquartered in Mountain View, got the job of tracking the oil huge man’s worldwide environmental footprint – emissions and water and soil contaminants at its hundreds of sites – and storing the tens of millions of bits of data on Locus’ servers for Exxon to peruse.
CEO Neno Duplan would not reveal the dollar amount of the contract, which was announced last week, further, he said, “I can tell you, in this industry, it doesn’t be in possession of bigger than this.”
Neither would he disclose revenue of the 13-year thoughtful private company, which specializes in environmental data management, except to judge it is between “$5 (million) and $15 million.”
But it has ~y impressive client list, including San Ramon’s Chevron Corp., Pleasanton’s Safeway Inc., the Honeywell International Inc. Co. pudding-stone and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Adding Exxon Mobil – not known while an early adopter of environmental monitoring – marks a “pretty significant wile” for Exxon, Duplan said.
He attributes the deal in part to the augmenting focus on environmental monitoring and data collection, especially as the presumption of greater government regulation on greenhouse gases looms.
It also, he before-mentioned, reflects the growing interest data-intensive companies are showing in cloud computing. “We’ve been in the cloud since 1999,” Duplan famed.
“We’re very bullish on the future,” he said, “especially with the growing intersection of technology and cloud computing, and the increasing demands of environmental disposition.”
Blogging at sfgate.com.columns/bottomline. Tweeting at @andrewsross. E-put in the ~ bottomline@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page D – 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle