Small Business Survey Results Show Optimism
Executive Summary
Completion of the "2011 Thunder Bay Business Opinion Survey" marks the fourteenth year since the inception of the survey, which gives a voice to the small business community of the region. The Thunder Bay Business Opinion Survey provides third parties with an in-depth analysis of the thoughts of small businesses. The findings of the survey include both quantitative and qualitative aspects and also examine the recent and future environmental conditions that small businesses operate under. Every effort was made to ensure that the statistics and data represented the population and that all bias was eliminated.
The survey presented findings in several key areas that should be noted:
1. Hiring expectations for the next 12 months have increased considerably in comparison to last year’s results with 51% of firms planning to hire additional employees, up from 39% in 2010. 49% of firms are not planning to hire additional employees, and 0% are planning to lay off employees. The employment trends in the last five years indicate that the number of firms planning to expand is increasing. It is important to notice that those firms planning to hire
currently employ 10 full time workers and 4 part time employees, while those not planning to hire consist of a smaller work force.
2. 68% of respondents feel that economic growth in Thunder Bay is positive. There has been a significant trend in the past four years indicating increasing confidence among small business owners that the economy is on track to recovery. In 2008 only 20% of respondents felt optimistic towards economic growth. Over the past five years this number has continually increased to its current peak of 68%.
3. Perception that the mining industry is having a positive impact on Thunder Bay’s economy has remained strong over the past three years. Thunder Bay’s small business owners gave mining a score of 3.48 out of 5, ranking it as the most important industry sector. Mining is also
ranked very high in regards to its importance to the future of Thunder Bay. Conversely, while respondents feel that forestry is not important to the future of Thunder Bay’s economy. The OLG Casino has maintained a steady score of 2.41, indicating that business owners still perceive
the impact of the casino negatively. The score of the waterfront development has dropped significantly since last year, from 3.35 to 2.99, indicating that small business owners are losing faith in the benefits of this process.
4. Small business owners showed a significant increase in their expectation of future security. In 2010, only 77% of small businesses felt secure while the 2011 survey now shows that 83% of respondents possess a feeling of security. This increase shows a strong positive trend since 2005. This should be monitored closely in the future to determine what effect the current conditions are having on small businesses.
5. Respondents’ perceptions in regards to the City of Thunder Bay meeting their needs are not positive. Almost every factor that was questioned has dropped from last year’s results, and all the results are below the midpoint of three. This indicates that the City of Thunder Bay is not meeting the needs of Thunder Bay’s small business owners.
6. Small business owners seem to have a reached a near consensus that raising taxes in the short-term to eliminate deficits at a faster pace is not a good idea. 87% of respondents feel that this is a bad idea, which is following a trend in comparison with the previous year’s results.
Harold Wilson, President of Thunder bay Chamber of Commerce
“ It is a very good snapshot of what was going on at that time. I do believe there are still opportunities here for the forestry industry. It has been quite decimated but that doesn’t mean their isan't still potential.The interest in the wood allocations process speak to that. The survey says that forestry will still have an important role, maybe not primary in the the pulp and paper. I don’t think we have to move on from forestry. ”
Royden Potvin of Thunder Bay Ventures
“ Over 100 people responded to our survey which is good. People have a positive lift with a lot of new stories, say of people coming back to Thunder Bay and new start ups. Overall it is buoyant. The survey has shown movement from 20 % to 68 % seeing the future positive. When people feel good about their business it will be reflected throughout the whole community. They open their wallets, start to spend and are optimistic about their futures. That is good for business. In three years we have gone up 250%. I think it comes in many small things such as the general press where you hear optimistic statements from small business needing to hire more people and getting more jobs. Bombardier is up to around 1000 employees here which is up a lot. If you have a job and paycheques coming in you feel more comfortable and you will go out and have a pizza on Friday night.Over 50% are saying they need to hire more people.
”Bahram Dadgostar, Dean of Faculty of Business Lakehead University.
“ I see the expectation of people is positive now. The economy is in the process of growth and we are going to have better years ahead of us although there are some impediments such as deficit spending. If you look at the sales of small business they are going up. It is important
to see peoples expectation of the future positive. We are doing well. It is hard to find a house here in Thunder Bay, the market is so strong. The shortage of skilled labour is an issue. The reliance on government spending can not last as well. We have to make our own way
at some point.
