Small Business, Congress Differ On Economy

By David A. Utter - Mon, 01/28/2008 - 11:19am.

Optimism prevails among SMB market

The doom and gloom coming from Congressional committee meetings runs in stark contract to a survey of SMB companies.

Though consensus opinion on the economy suggests America is about to suffer the same fate as Jack did in 'Titanic', small business owners aren't as ready to slip under the icy waves yet.

A survey backed by The Alternative Board found small business owners upbeat with their opinions on activities related to several key economic indicators:

• Hiring (with downsizing numbers as contrast) » Add employees: 56.8% » Stay the same: 39.5% » Downsize: 3.7% • Profitability in 2008 » Increase: 72.7% » Stay the same: 17.98% » Decrease: 9.3% • Capital Spending » Increase: 60.7% » Stay the same: 28.8% » Decrease: 10.4%

"What we found most interesting about this survey was that over 80 percent of our members and 65 percent of other business professionals projected an increase in gross revenue for the year," Jason Zickerman, president of TAB, said in a statement.

During tonight's State of the Union address, President Bush will probably reveal more details about a $150 billion economic stimulus plan that could flow at least partially to the SMB market.

News Tags: Money, Economy, Business

About the author:
David Utter is a staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz covering technology and business. Follow me on Twitter, and you can reach me via email at dutter @ ientry dot com.