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| Health of Oregon's Small Businesses |
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CONTACT: J.L. Wilson, (503) 364-4450 or Tony Malandra, (415) 664-9685
OREGON -- The most important segment of Oregon's economy – the small-business owners of the state who employ nearly 60 percent of all workers and generate almost all net new jobs – is in much healthier shape than its counterparts in neighboring states, according to a new survey released today by the National Federation of Independent Business, America's largest small-business advocacy group.
In compiling its Oregon Small-Business ConditionsSM report, one question NFIB asked small-business owners was to rank how supportive the state's business environment – which included government, banks, the media and community groups – was to them. Oregon racked up a respectable 29 percent net support tally, while Northern California had 17 percent, and Washington had a negative-9 percent rating. In fact, Washington's was the worst in this category among all 26 states surveyed. California was divided into three regions.
"This report gives Oregon fairly good grades, but not nearly enough for state policymakers to start patting themselves on the back," said J.L. Wilson, state director for the 12,000-member Oregon chapter of NFIB. "Although about half (48 percent) rated Oregon either 'supportive' or 'highly supportive' of its small businesses, an almost equal amount ranked it either 'neutral' (26 percent), 'not supportive' (14 percent) or 'not at all supportive' (5 percent). The message lawmakers can take from this report is that they can add fuel to this slow recovery by cutting capital gains taxes and holding the line on health insurance and workers' compensation costs."
For information about the Small-Business ConditionsSM project and other small-business research studies conducted by the NFIB Research Foundation, visit www.NFIB.com/research. Future surveys will be released on June 1, September 1 and December 1. On those dates, the survey will be compared to the previous quarter, as well as to neighboring states.
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