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CAN'T FIND SOMETHING? |
Business in Vancouver February 5-11, 2008; issue 954 Health-care, transportation top of mind for B.C. business leaders Concern over U.S. economy weighs heavily among the 586 respondents BIV-Ipsos Reid 2008 Business Confidence Survey Full results can be downloaded here. (Right-click and save link to your desktop) Andrew Petrozzi BC business leaders expect the provincial government to give top priority to controlling health-care costs, investing in transportation infrastructure and balancing budgets, according to the BIV-Ipsos Reid 2008 Business Confidence Survey. That was just one nugget provided within the survey, which drew on responses from 586 business people, almost half of which identified themselves as either a president, CEO, owner or operator of a company. A total of 48% had businesses located in Vancouver, while business owners in Burnaby (9%), Richmond (8%), North Vancouver (6%) and Surrey (5%) were also well represented. Most were small businesses (77%) with fewer than 50 employees. Almost a third (32%) had 2007 gross sales/revenue of less than $500,000. Respondents identified a reduction in property crime (80%) as a priority for the provincial government, as well as promoting efforts to reduce industry impact on climate change (80%) and to increase spending on education and research (81%). Interestingly, more than half of those surveyed felt that settling native land claims should be a lower provincial priority. “When you look at the stuff that is capturing headlines, they are not necessarily things that are on the priority list for businesses,” said Steve Mossop, president, western region, North America for Ipsos. “For businesses to say the number one thing from a business perspective is to control health care costs, that’s pretty significant. Transportation infrastructure [from a business perspective] is probably the most underplayed story this year.” The high percentage of business leaders looking to the provincial government to prioritize a reduction in property crime is a very Vancouver/Lower Mainland-centric sentiment. The survey also revealed that B.C. business leaders were “surprisingly upbeat” despite the wide range of economic woes currently in play. Of the 586 respondents, three-quarters forecasted higher prospects for sales in 2008, with 68% also reckoning on higher prospects for profits. Many also saw higher prospects for employment (45%), capital expenditures (40%) and space requirements (28%) in the coming year. Almost two-thirds of respondents predicted that the prospects for the B.C. economy in the next 12 months would be higher – just 14% believe it will be lower. While labour shortages remain the key negative issue affecting business, the U.S. economy, debt crisis/tightening credit, retaining/finding high calibre employees, the U.S. exchange rate and tighter border security were also top of mind. Mossop said it was surprising to see how much U.S.-related issues weighed heavily with respondents. “There was not a lot of talk about the economic transfer between the two countries, but it is on these issues where the concern is. We may not be as tied in straight economic terms, but on issues we are very much tied.” What was also surprising was the perceived contributions of tourism (97%) and hightech and IT industries (95%) to the well-being of the provincial economy. The traditional powerhouse segments of the economy – other resource-based industries (89%), forestry (82%) and manufacturing/ distribution/wholesale (73%) – were ranked much lower. “I would have thought that business would have been more informed on this issue,” Mossop said, adding that the contribution of tourism and hightech tend to be minimal in comparison to other economic sectors. Future growth of the provincial economy was also pinned on hightech and IT industries (43%) and the tourism segment (31%). Survey respondents overwhelmingly approved of the performance of the B.C. government, as well as the performance of Ottawa. But at the municipal level, only 27% of survey respondents approved of the performance of Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan’s administration. • apetrozzi@biv.com |
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