August 26, 2014
Rep. Takano Releases 100 Businesses of the Inland Empire Report
Washington DC – Earlier today, Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) released a report titled “100 Businesses of the Inland Empire,” which uses the knowledge gained through the 100 Business Tour that he conducted last year.
Takano visited book stores, coffee shops, manufacturers, software companies, retailers, and a number of other types of businesses across the Inland Empire. Although the businesses varied in size, location, and business sector, some of the most common concerns that business owners expressed included an inability to find qualified workers, difficulty affording employee benefits and pay, high utility costs, and inadequate access to capital.
Despite these concerns, more than three-quarters of the businesses that completed the survey plan to hire additional employees in the near future, indicating that business owners are beginning to feel more confident about the improving economy.
Key Findings:
- 77 percent of business respondents said they planned to hire additional employees, 47 percent of businesses planned to hire employees within the next six months.
- 31 percent of businesses surveyed said it was difficult to obtain a small business loan.
- 33 percent of respondents had vacancies that they were unable to fill. Businesses most often cited a lack of qualified applicants as the reason jobs were going unfilled.
- 67 percent of respondents said tax incentives would encourage them to hire veterans.
When asked, a large number of businesses indicated that several benefits of operating a business in the Inland Empire were location, proximity to customers and cost of land and facilities. Survey respondents also detailed the challenges they face operating a business in Riverside County, saying costs of employee benefits, taxes, high worker compensation and utility costs were burdensome. In the report, Takano offered several solutions that would make it easier to operate a business in Riverside County. They are:
- Improving the workforce through strengthening workforce training program, improving primary education, making high education more affordable, shutting down inefficient and predatory for-profit colleges, reforming our immigration system, and improving visa programs.
- Leveraging federal resources by improving awareness of the Small Business Administration and federal manufacturing incentives.
- Supporting local innovation through the maker movement, coworking spaces and crowdfunding.
- Better educating businesses about tax credits made available by the Affordable Care Act.
- Helping Inland Empire small businesses compete in the global market by offering export assistance.
- Investing in infrastructure projects that bring direct and indirect jobs to the Inland Empire.
“This report confirms what I have long suspected, that despite the economic challenges we have faced, a majority of businesses in the Inland Empire feel optimistic about the future,” said Takano. “With more than three quarters of survey respondents saying that they planned to hire new employees, I believe that our region will continue to grow and pull itself out of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. However, this report also presents a series of challenges that we must dedicate ourselves to solving. We must improve our workforce training programs, better educate business owners to federal resources that are available, help businesses compete in the global marketplace, support local innovation, and invest in infrastructure. This report is an excellent snapshot of the business climate in Riverside County, and I plan to take what I have learned here back to Washington and do all I can to help Inland Empire business owners.”