Most N.J. Executives Expect Business to Improve In Next 12 Months; More Than Half Plan to Hire

Here's good news: New Jersey business owners are optimistic.


Seven out of ten New Jersey business executives said they expect their companies' business to improve over the next 12 months, according to a flash survey conducted yesterday by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and Sovereign Bank.



Seventy percent of the respondents said their companies will be in better shape over the next year, 22 percent anticipate business will hold steady, while 9 percent expect business to worsen.


The survey participants were the 200 executives, business owners and managers who attended the N.J. Chamber's and Sovereign Bank's Economic Outlook Breakfast at the Pines Manor in Edison yesterday. Participants used hand-held devices to respond to ten questions, and responses were immediately tabulated and displayed. The survey provided a real-time snapshot of business leaders' views of the economy, and was followed by an expert panel that discussed the results.



Kevin Welsh, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis, said the respondents' optimism is consistent with what's occurring on the ground in New Jersey: the relocation or expansion in New Jersey of Panasonic in Newark; Novo Nordisk in Plainsboro; Whyndham Worldwide headquarters in Parsippany; and LG Electronics in Englewood Cliffs.


"Business leaders and CEOs have a lot of confidence in New Jersey," Welsh said. "These transactions are creating jobs. If this doesn't speak to confidence in this state, I don't know what does."


Other panelists, like Jeff Scheininger, the chairman of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and Emil Solimine, president and CEO of the construction firm Spiniello Companies, said New Jersey's strengths lie in its highly skilled workforce, its infrastructure and its strong customer base. But, they added, New Jersey's reputation as a high-tax and highly regulated state continues to be an obstacle.


The survey respondents chose property taxes (31 percent) and the cost of health care (17 percent) as the top challenges facing New Jersey. As for their companies' biggest challenges, the respondents chose attracting customers (30 percent), retaining existing customers (19 percent) and the cost of health insurance and employee benefits (18 percent).



Other findings of the survey:


Fifty-five percent of respondents said their companies plan to hire in the next 12 months, while 37 percent expect to maintain staffing levels and eight percent expect to see a staffing decrease.


When asked for their most pressing reasons for hiring, the respondents chose projected sales growth (23 percent), current staffing levels cannot meet demand (20 percent) and expanding into a new segment or market (14 percent).


More than two of every three respondents (65 percent) said the New Jersey economy has improved since Gov. Chris Christie took office in January 2010, while 22 percent said it has not changed and 17 percent said it has deteriorated.


"The growing optimism evident in the survey reflects the efforts and the achievements of the Christie administration to make New Jersey a more business-friendly state," said Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, after the event.  "There was overwhelming agreement during our discussion that the business community needs to continue supporting the administration's pro-growth policies and ensure this positive momentum continues."




Everything Jersey Business Expo


The Economic Outlook Breakfast was followed by the New Jersey Chamber's 5th Annual Everything Jersey Business Expo, which demonstrated some of the optimism expressed during the Sovereign breakfast. Hundreds of business executives and decision makers visited 85 exhibitors (the most exhibitors at the event in three years) and attended strategic workshops designed to address the issues of skyrocketing health care costs, capital lending, the unpredictable cost of energy; and using social media to grow sales in a challenging economy.



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