Right now the small business remains skeptical and depressed about the future of the economy – at least according to the data supplied by the National Federation for Independent Business. In the last month the mood has improved just a little but remains near record lows, says Dr. Christ Kuehl, BIIA’s contributing editor.
Is There One Thing that Small Business Wants from the Government?
In truth there is no unanimity when it comes to what the small business wants from the system. Some are very reliant on the government directly and indirectly and many have taken full advantage of everything from small business loans to grants and subsidies.
There is one area that is mentioned almost universally however. It is the area of training and nearly all small and medium sized business needs assistance. The fact is that businesses with a small number of employees and narrow margins simply can’t afford to take on training tasks that last years or even months. They need people in the hiring pipeline that can be brought on board with 80% to 90% of the skills they need. This goes for everything from operating machines and technology to financial management and marketing.
The small business community looks at the 20 million people out of work as a wasted resource. These are people who could be hired and could be contributing to the growth of these businesses but they have skills that don’t match up with the needs of the business.
If there is one universal wish it would be that nearly every one of those looking for work were being trained and educated for new careers. There is incentive for the business to contribute to this and there is certainly incentive for those out of work but there is just as much incentive for the government as getting twenty million people back to work would go a long way towards addressing the revenue issues of government.
Source: Dr. Chris Kuehl, Armada Corporate Intelligence – BIIA contributing editor and a BIIA ex-officio director
To read the full story members need to log on
February 13, 2013
