Annual survey shows 97 percent expect to increase or maintain staffing levels
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Ninety-seven percent of small business owners anticipate hiring or maintaining their current number of employees in 2017, according to TMC Financing’s 2017 Small Business Outlook Survey. TMC, Northern California’s No. 1 SBA 504 lender, conducts an annual survey of California and Nevada small business owners who have outstanding loans with TMC to gauge their level of optimism and predictions for the coming year.
“This is excellent news because small businesses are the heart and soul of America. They have the collective power to transform our economies and impact industries at home and abroad,” said TMC Founder & President, Barbara Morrison. “The ingenuity and drive of the American small business owner is fueling diversified competition, increased productivity and expansive innovation. Equally important, they’re directly impacting the communities from which they rise.”
Every community has a wide variety of small businesses that are collectively making a huge difference. Primrose School of Livermore is just one of the stand out small businesses in Alameda County with high expectations for the future. Thanks to SBA 504 financing provided by TMC, this provider of premier early education and child care will be opening a new location in Livermore, which is projected to create 25 new jobs within the next two years. These 25 new jobs, created by an individual who started her business with an at-home day care, illustrate just how much impact a ‘small’ businesses can have on our economic development.
For 2016, TMC provided the SBA 504 financing portion of commercial real estate projects totaling more than $700 million in California and Nevada. Those loans helped create or retain 3,390 jobs, a 51 percent increase over 2015. Alameda County saw a 19 percent increase in jobs created or retained due to SBA 504 financing. The industries where we saw the greatest growth in job creation include recreational, food services, construction, warehousing, and manufacturing. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses are the single biggest drivers of local growth and job creation in America, creating nearly two-thirds of our nation’s net new jobs, while employing roughly 50 percent of the total workforce.
“Job creation is one of the biggest drivers to renewed prosperity in the United States, and clearly, small businesses are behind the wheel,” said Kurt Chambliss, TMC Executive Vice President. “But this push towards a better tomorrow wouldn’t be possible without support. Access to capital is often one cited as one of the biggest challenges for small businesses.”
The 2017 Small Business Outlook Survey, sent to more than 1,500 business owners in November 2016, also shows optimism for revenue growth: 64
percent expect revenue to increase, while 32 percent expect it to remain steady. Last year, 62 percent predicted revenue growth for 2016 and in this year’s survey, 62 percent reported that their revenue did in fact increase over 2015. Survey results also show 23 percent of business owners expect to expand their business space in 2017, and 20 percent are planning to refinance business loans in the coming year.
“These businesses are integral to a thriving economy and our local communities,” Morrison said. “The real estate financing provided by TMC is a vital resource for businesses growth and expansion.”