A Majority of Executives said the State’s Efforts to Support Small Business during the Pandemic have Fallen Short
Nearly seven in 10 business executives (68%) said they believe the U.S. economy has entered a recession, and vast majority of them (71%) believe it will last longer than a year, according to a survey of business executives conducted by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. The results were released today.
Even among the business executives that do not believe the nation’s economy is in a recession, about half of them (51%) said they expect a recession will begin within the next 24 months, according to the survey.
“New Jersey business executives are navigating the land mines of inflation, supply shortages and labor shortages, so it is no wonder they see difficult economic times now and in the immediate future,” said Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.
“These survey results overwhelmingly confirm what we have been saying for months: The well-intentioned programs developed by the state to aid the business community and the recent credit upgrades – while good news – have not translated into substantive help for our businesses,” Bracken said. “These respondents are the people in the trenches every day fighting to grow their businesses. We need to listen to what they say.”
The State’s Response to the Pandemic
Most respondents (58%) said the state of New Jersey’s efforts to support small business since the beginning of the pandemic has been ineffective. Nearly a third (31%) of respondents said the state’s response has been effective, and 11% said the response has been neither effective nor ineffective.
When asked for the single most important thing the state can do now to support their business, most (58%) respondents said reduce taxes on businesses and 16% said make capital grants available.
Methodology
The N.J. Chamber of Commerce's survey was conducted between Aug. 2 and Aug. 21. Executives that are members of the N.J. Chamber of Commerce, as well as members of local and regional chambers of commerce throughout New Jersey, were invited to participate. The survey generated 131 responses.
Chief Business Concerns
When asked to rank their chief concerns regarding running their business, inflation was ranked at the top by 32% of the respondents. The labor shortage (chosen by 23% of respondents) and supply-chain-related shortages (18%) were the other concerns most frequently ranked first.
The Economic Climate in New Jersey
When asked to characterize New Jersey’s current business environment, 69% of respondents said New Jersey is unfriendly to business, and 31% of respondents said it is friendly to business.
When asked where they expect the New Jersey economy to be in July 2023, compared to July 2022, 43% of the respondents said ‘worse,’ 28% said ‘about the same’ and 28% said ‘better.’
When asked where they expect their business to be in July 2023, compared to July 2022, the business executives were more optimistic: 39% of the respondents said they expect their business to be ‘better’ in July of next year, 31% of the respondents said ‘worse,’ and 30% said ‘about the same.’
For full survey results, click here.