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For Immediate Release
BUSINESS EXECUTIVES SAY MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE TO GET CONNECTICUT ’S State needs to focus on health care and energy costs to help grow jobs Despite the fact that last year’s legislative session produced several pro-economic-growth bills, business executives say more must be done to help make the state’s economy more competitive. The cost of doing business remains their greatest concern, with health care, energy and taxes cited as areas that need to be addressed. Education, job training and the lack of affordable housing are also identified as areas that need improvement to help grow jobs in Connecticut . These are some of the findings of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association’s (CBIA’s) 2006 Annual Membership Survey, released today. The survey findings emphasize the need for government leaders to do more to encourage investments in the state that lead to economic growth and job creation by reducing business costs, improving the state’s infrastructure and enhancing workforce skills. "Business leaders have seen some progress, but overall they are not satisfied with the status quo,” said John R. Rathgeber, CBIA president and CEO. “Executives are asking state policy-makers to make Connecticut a better place to live and work by focusing on some of the challenges facing our economy. Reducing the cost of doing business and improving the overall business climate would encourage more job growth and business investment in the state.” Recent surveys have placed Connecticut sixth-highest in the nation for business costs, and that burden was reflected in this survey. Twenty-three percent of respondents said the high cost of doing business in the state is the biggest problem facing business in Connecticut . The costs that cause the greatest concern are health-care benefit costs (53 percent), energy costs (14 percent) and taxes (10 percent). " Connecticut businesses have been dealing with these challenges for more than a decade,” said Peter Gioia, CBIA vice president and economist. “We need to listen to these concerns and work together to get our economy moving forward, which will help create new job opportunities for our citizens.” Top Issues A sizable majority of business executives (84 percent) gave the state a fair or poor rating on the overall cost of doing business here. And more than three-quarters (77 percent) of respondents said that business costs are worsening, while only 3 percent said they are improving. It’s a similar story for other key issues. For example:
Health care and other costs When asked which costs of doing business are the greatest concern for their companies, more than half of respondents (53 percent) said the rising cost of employee health-care benefits. And while almost all respondents (98 percent) provide health-care benefits to their employees, more than three-quarters (76 percent) said that rising health-benefit costs affect their decisions regarding hiring new workers. Connecticut business executives rank the state’s location between New York and Boston as its greatest advantage (40 percent), followed by the state’s labor pool (18 percent). But respondents are concerned about maintaining that labor pool. Almost half (45 percent) said that they see the situation for finding qualified workers getting worse, with computer technology, scientific, and manufacturing-related skills among the most needed and most difficult to find. And 70 percent said that the lack of affordable housing in the state makes it more difficult to attract new employees. Nearly all (95 percent) respondents support efforts to adopt more rigorous high school graduation requirements to better prepare students and provide them with the skills needed to enter today’s competitive job market. And 81 percent support expansion of charter and magnet schools to raise student performance. “In order to continue growing our economy and jobs, lawmakers must address many of the challenges facing our economy and pass legislation that will make the state more competitive, while disposing of proposals that send an anti-business message,” said Rathgeber. The survey was conducted by mail and e-mail earlier this fall. A total of 678 respondents completed the survey, for a return rate of 9.3 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percent. CBIA is the state’s largest business organization, with 10,000 members. ### For a copy of the survey, visit www.cbia.com/newsroom/surveys.
For more information contact Nancy Andrews, CBIA media relations manager, at 860-244-1957 or andrewsn@cbia.com. 350 Church
Street · Hartford, CT 06103-1126 · cbia.com/newsroom
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