Business confidence in New Jersey is up to the highest level in five years, according to the latest survey from the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. NJBIA President Philip Kirschner told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that sales revenues in 2012 were up from 2011 and business owners believe the state is moving in the right direction. He said the combination will help New Jersey rebound more quickly in 2013 than 2012.
The NJBIA survey includes more than 1,500 companies in all 21 counties and Kirschner said virtually every industry in every region has seen increased confidence with business picking up and people believing the state is heading in the right direction. This is the third year in a row the NJBIA has found increases, according to Kirschner.
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Kirschner said a stronger rebound could be coming partially because of work being done in the state. “New Jersey has taken a real bipartisan approach and has really achieved some memorable accomplishments — fiscal reform, tax reform and the like,” he said. “And that also gives business owners a lot of confidence.”
While confidence may be up, Hurricane Sandy dealt many New Jersey businesses a blow from which not all will be able to recover. Despite the challenges, Kirschner is confident that a rebound will happen in 2013.
“I think generally, if you’re looking towards all of 2013, we can still have a good strong growth there,” he said. “Obviously there’s going to be some short-term negative impact, particularly in November going into December, but for the large majority of businesses, they are open. Their customers are open for business and this will be a horrific short-term memory.”
While many businesses are still recovering from storm damage and some will not be able to open their doors, Kirschner is still optimistic. “I think what you will see is increases in construction, which has been lagging and other businesses picking up the slack from those who unfortunately are not in a position to rebuild or will take months and months and months to do so.”
Gov. Chris Christie has said some communities may see tax increases after Hurricane Sandy to help pay for the damage. Historically the NJBIA has opposed higher taxes because of the belief that it impedes economic growth, but Kirschner said storm recovery is different.
“We supported greatly the 2 percent cap on property taxes and there was only four exceptions in there and one was for natural disasters. I think when you see something like that, everybody rallies around,” he said. “We have to rebuild these towns, we have to help our businesses. And I think we will see our way through this.”