As national economic indicators continue to show signs of recovery, confidence among Westchester County business owners is on the rise, a new survey shows.
The Westchester Business Confidence Index for the first quarter of 2012 increased to 64.8 from 54.2 in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 41.6 six months ago.
The index, which is scaled from one to 100, takes into account revenue, income, capital expenditures, hiring plans, and other data amassed from a quarterly survey that is distributed to hundreds of local businesses.
The survey and index are produced on a quarterly basis by the Business Council of Westchester and DataKey Consulting L.L.C. in Mount Kisco.
The current survey includes responses from 108 business owners, with 60 percent of those respondents saying they expect their business”™s revenue to increase over the next several quarters.
The elevated confidence rating comes as the U.S. Commerce Department recently reported national employment data for March, showing mixed results.
Employers added just 120,000 jobs in March, whereas most economists predicted roughly 205,000 new jobs.
Despite the unexpected reading, the unemployment rate for March ”“ which comes from a separate survey of households ”“ fell to 8.2 percent from 8.3 percent in February.
Just six months ago, amidst uncertainty over the U.S. debt ceiling and Europe”™s own debt crisis, the Westchester Business Confidence Index plummeted from an all-time high of 66.3 to 41.6.
DataKey founder and president Ted Miller says this quarter”™s index shows business owners are feeling more secure.
“There was a lot of uncertainty there with the European debt crisis, but since then it”™s now climbed over the last six months,” Miller said. “I wouldn”™t have guessed it would have climbed this much but I”™m happy to see it.”
Miller said the increased confidence rating shows business owners are now learning how to manage their bottom despite the underlying economic difficulties.
Both Miller and Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester, said access to capital continues to be an issue for area business owners.
“The message that the banks are giving us is they”™re lending to good clients,” Gordon said. “Access to capital remains an issue … but there is capital available for those projects and those businesses that are capital-worthy.”
