Report: Small-business owners say presidential hopefuls don’t understand them

WASHINGTON – Small-business owners are paying close attention to the presidential primary elections, and the majority of them say candidates from both parties only understand small business somewhat or not at all.
That is according to the National Small Business Association’s biannual economic report, which provides a snapshot of how small businesses are faring in areas of business sentiment, finance and public policy. The 2015 year-end economic report, based on information collected from Dec. 18 to Jan. 8, 2016, also included data about politics.
And small-business owners are not too impressed with how much the candidates know about issues relevant to small business.
“We asked a number of policy and politics questions and found the majority of small-business owners – 53 percent – are paying very close attention to the forthcoming presidential elections,” according to the report. “Unfortunately, just 5 percent said that the various presidential candidates understand small business very well while 40 percent said the candidates don’t understand small business at all.”
The year-end report also included financial data among small business, which show positive trends. The number of respondents who said they could access adequate capital was at an eight-year high of 73 percent, according to the report. Although, the association stressed the fact that still one in four small firms couldn’t access adequate financing.
The report also shows a four-year high of 75 percent of respondents expressing confidence in the future of their own businesses.

No posts to display