As the economy slowly recovers, business confidence remains fragile in Connecticut, according to a new survey by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA).
About 59 percent of companies recorded a net profit in 2011 but 57 percent expect to see a profit in 2012, according to the annual survey.
“It shows there”™s still a strain out there,” said Tom DeVitto, BlumShapiro chief marketing officer, who helped compile the report. “We”™re improving but we still have a ways to go from what we”™ve seen in previous surveys.”
CBIA, in partnership with BlumShapiro, an accounting, tax and business consulting firm, released the 2012 Survey of Connecticut Businesses at CBIA”™s Connecticut Economy conference in Rocky Hill Sept. 7. They received input from 580 Connecticut businesses.
On job creation, 43 percent of businesses surveyed added or had planned to add new full-time jobs in 2012 and 44 percent said they plan to hire more employees in 2013. In terms of innovation, in the past 12 months, 50 percent of businesses have introduced a new product or service and 55 percent plan to do so within the next 12 months.
“Overall it”™s good news,” said Peter M. Gioia, CBIA vice president and economist. “But there”™s a lot of concern ”¦ Is another shoe going to drop?”
The top business concerns in 2012, according to the survey, included national economic uncertainties (25 percent), Connecticut”™s economy (24 percent), tax increases (14 percent), lack of jobs in Connecticut (10 percent), international economic uncertainties (10 percent), and cost of compliance with state or federal regulations (9 percent).
Discussing ways to grow Connecticut”™s economy, a panel of economists at the conference agreed educational efforts in the state are vital. The unemployment rate is exceeding 7 percent but 48 percent of surveyed businesses said it”™s difficult to find qualified employees to fill open jobs. The most common characteristics among those unemployed are being young, a minority and without a college or high school degree.
“That”™s an enormous loss for the human population,” said panelist Susan Coleman, professor of finance at the University of Hartford. “We desperately need young talent. We can”™t afford to waste people.”
To create a more skilled future work force, the panelists suggested funding pre-kindergarten education and creating alternative education environments for students at risk.
“Investing in education is always a good investment,” said panelist Alissa DeJonge, director of research at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc.
In previous surveys, Connecticut”™s skilled labor market has been consistently cited as one of the state”™s biggest assets, along with its high quality of life and proximity to major markets. This year, however, only 30 percent of respondents agreed the labor pool was an asset, down from 50 percent last year.
Along with the evaluation of the labor pool, opinion of the general business environment also declined, with 69 percent of respondents reporting a somewhat or very negative opinion of the state. Additionally, one in three businesses say they are considering relocating into another state within the next five years and nearly one in three have been approached by other states about relocating.
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