Surveys: Owners of of small businesses optimistic for 2012

By Steve Wartenberg

Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS

Small-business owners are slowly growing more optimistic about the future and could add workers in 2012, several new national surveys suggest.

Andrew Lynch says he doesn’t need a survey to tell him the economic landscape is improving.

“We’re the best indicator you can have,” said Lynch, president of Zipline Logistics, a Grandview Heights-based transportation company that moves goods for its clients.

“We’re seeing growth from our clients. They’re doing better and moving more snack foods, beverages, toys, consumer products and clothing,” he said. “They’re replenishing inventory ahead of a better sales cycle.”

More truck traffic is good news for the overall economy and for Zipline, which said revenue jumped 250 percent in 2011 compared with the year before. The number of full-time employees rose from seven to 17 during the past year.

Lynch’s observations seem to back up the national surveys, whose results are mixed but generally show small-business owners are becoming more optimistic.

SurePayroll’s December scorecard for small business found 50 percent of the responding companies plan to hire this year and 56 percent intend to raise wages.

About 20 percent plan to seek loans to invest in marketing, technology and facility upgrades or expansion, according to the survey.

“We’re starting to see healthier-looking companies,” said Craig Street, director of SBA lending for Huntington Bancshares. “The last couple of years, every approval was challenging, and now they’re becoming less challenging.”

Another survey, conducted in December by Manta Media of 1,000 small- business owners, found 72 percent deemed 2011 a successful year.

The survey found that 70 percent think the business landscape will improve this year, and 90 percent are optimistic about their own company’s growth potential.

“Companies are more confident about 2012 and more inclined to hire as revenue grows,” said Pamela Springer, CEO of Manta Media, an online community that connects small businesses.