Top Concerns of Small Business
Source: US Chamber of Commerce
This quarter, a worsening view of the economy helped drive down the MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index. Just a quarter (25%) of small businesses say the U.S. economy is in good health and 30% say their local economy is in good health, both down eight percentage points since last quarter.
At the same time, small businesses’ views on the health of their own business remain positive. About two-thirds (64%) of small businesses say the health of their business is very or somewhat good. In addition, two-thirds (67%) of small businesses say they are somewhat or very comfortable with their cash flow, down slightly from last quarter (72%)—but consistent with this time last year (67%).
The Q3 2023 Index score fell to 61.3 from 69.2— a return to the scores seen earlier this year and in late 2022.
Most See a Worker Shortage…
Over the last few quarters, small businesses have expressed a consistent, growing concern for finding the right workers. In fact, over half of those who have searched for talent in 2023 say it is hard to find candidates with the experience (54%) or skills (52%) their business needs.
In addition, most small businesses say they see a worker shortage: a majority (53%) of small businesses agree there is a worker shortage in their local area.
Nearly half of small businesses report searching for, recruiting, or interviewing new talent in 2023—a significant increase from mid-2021. 45% of small businesses say they have searched for new talent this year, up from 36% who said so in fall 2021.
…And Struggle to Keep Up with Workers’ Salary Demands
Not surprisingly, in this atmosphere of increased competition for workers, employers are having to pull out all the stops to find and retain talent.
Nearly half of those who report searching for new workers in 2023 say it is hard to offer competitive pay and benefits. And 60% of all small businesses agree it is challenging to keep up with existing employees’ salary expectations.
They’re also offering new and unique benefits. The most popular strategy is offering flexible work schedules: 68% of small businesses saying they plan to offer it in the next year. In addition, half (50%) of small businesses say they will be offering increased pay, paid sick leave, or listing the hourly pay/salary range for each open position they announce.
To Address Worker Shortages, Small Businesses Consider Unique Talent Pools
In their quest to find more workers, small businesses are also open to considering workers from often-overlooked talent pools.
Nearly three in four (71%) small businesses agree that employers should more often consider hiring from talent pools such as formerly-incarcerated people, veterans, military spouses, or immigrants. In addition, a majority (54%) of small businesses think the U.S. should issue more skilled worker visas annually so businesses can hire the workers they need.
Inflation Still Number One Concern
Despite growing hiring concerns, inflation still tops the list of challenges for small business owners.
For the sixth consecutive quarter, 50% or more small businesses have cited inflation as one of their biggest challenges. However, this concern may be levelling off: concern over inflation has held steady at 52%-54% over the last year.
Small businesses’ second biggest concern is revenue with 22% citing this as a top concern.
Meanwhile, small businesses concern about supply chain issues are slightly fading. Supply chain issues are tied for fourth place as the most challenging issue reported among small businesses this quarter (17%), along with affording employee benefits or healthcare.
The Index’s overall score fell to 61.3 from 69.2 last quarter. This is close to overall sentiments this time last year.
The Q4 2023 SBI survey was conducted between October 5 – 24, 2023. For more findings from this quarter, and to explore and browse years of small business data, visit: https://www.uschamber.com/sbindex/.
Member News – January 3, 2024
Danville Business Alliance Hires Marketing & Membership Coordinator
Annie McCarty joins the Danville Business Alliance in the role of Marketing & Membership Coordinator. Annie is also the owner of Troop 47 Trading Co. Welcome Annie! She can be reached at annie@visitdanvillepa.org.
Focus Central PA hosting Forum
Focus Central PA will be hosting an Industrial Development Forum on March 13, 2024. The forum will be held at Commonwealth University- Bloomsburg. Early bird registration rates are good until January 13, 2024. Learn more on their website and check out the flyer.
Community Giving Foundation 2024 Grant Round is Now Open!
Community Giving Foundation is pleased to announce 2024 competitive grant rounds are now open. Grant rounds include opportunities through Berwick, Bloomsburg, Danville, Selinsgrove, and Sunbury affiliate foundations. The process opens January 2nd and closes February 29th. Learn more.
Columbia Montour AVTS Survey
Columbia-Montour AVTS wants to help your company attract, retain, and inspire its workforce by using education as a strategic advantage. They are teaming up with Dream2Career and GAR Associates to bring your organization innovative solutions in training and development. Please complete a 5-min survey to help them better understand your training and development needs.
Berwick YMCA Presents Daddy/Daughter Dance
Berwick YMCA presents "Daddy/Daugther Dance" Sunday, February 18th in their gymnasium from 3:00-6:00 PM. Tickets are on sale now at our front desk. Space is limited! Tickets must be purchased in person.
Save the Date for The Women's Center's 50th Anniversary
The Women's Center will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary on April 6, 2024, with an event at the Barn at Frosty Valley. Mark your calendars now to be a part of the celebration of 5 decades of community work.
SBDC Training Events open for Registration
The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) provide education and no-cost consulting services to entrepreneurs and small business owners. The SBDC is ready to help you grow your business. Check out trainings with the SBDC at Bucknell University and the SBDC at Wilkes University.
Bloomsburg Public Library has new hours in 2024
The Bloomsburg Library has changed hours to better accommodate patrons. Check out their new hours.
VITA Volunteers Needed
The Susquehanna Valley United Way is looking for volunteers for their annual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Learn more.
Non-Profits Serving Columbia County Invited to Open House
The Partners and Tenants of The Hub at Mulberry are inviting non-profits serving Columbia County to an open house February 1st 4:30 - 6:30. The evening will include light hors d'oeuvres, tours and the opportunity to learn how to utilize the facility.
The ARC of Pennsylvania has Programs to help with Employment Needs
Arc Discovery Employment and Transitions (ADEPT)
ADEPT is a program of the Arc of Pennsylvania that helps individuals
with disabilities to transition to work through Customized
Employment Process. Learn more about this program by reaching out to Jennifer Hipps and check out this informational flyer.
15 Tech Tools to Elevate Your Work Life Balance
- Mastering time management and prioritization through technology enables focusing on vision, innovation, and growing the business.
- Tools like Trello, Asana, and Slack help create clear schedules and facilitate team collaboration.
- Doist and Evernote help prioritize and categorize tasks efficiently, while LastPass securely stores passwords and sensitive data.
- Social media management tools like Hootsuite and Buffer allow scheduling posts in advance to save time. Flodesk and HubSpot assist with email marketing.
- Dropbox, Google Analytics, and Grammarly aid in file sharing, understanding website usage, and improving writing skills.
- Automatic time trackers like Toggl and IFTTT keep tabs on billable hours and automate repetitive jobs.
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Running a small business or being an entrepreneur brings a whirlwind of challenges that can sometimes feel overwhelming. Among these obstacles, the ability to juggle multiple tasks while maintaining productivity and efficiency stands out as one of the most critical. We get it, it's tough! The good news is that there's a solution. In this article, we'll explore how effectively managing your time and utilizing essential tech tools can propel your business towards growth.
Boost Your Productivity: 15 Essential Tech Tools for Efficiency, Organization, Collaboration, and Ease
When you’re running your own business, it's tempting to believe you're the only one capable of handling all the tasks required to keep operations going. But let's face it, that approach is neither effective nor sustainable. This is where time management and prioritization come into play. By allocating your time and resources wisely, you can optimize your workflow and focus on the tasks that truly drive your business forward.
Productive Workflows
The first step towards effective time management and prioritization is creating a clear schedule. Tools like Trello, Asana, and Slack can be your secret weapons here. Trello helps you organize projects and tasks effortlessly, while Asana provides a centralized hub for team collaboration. And when it comes to real-time messaging and file sharing among teams, Slack has got your back.
Stay Organized & Efficient
Once you've got your schedule in place, it's crucial to stay focused on the task at hand. Tools like Doist's and Evernote can be your trusty companions, helping you prioritize and categorize your tasks efficiently. And to save time and boost productivity, LastPass securely stores your passwords and sensitive data in one convenient location.
Marketing Shortcuts
We all know that social media management can eat up a significant chunk of your time. Thankfully, tools like Hootsuite and Buffer allow you to schedule your posts in advance, freeing up valuable time for other important tasks. Plus, Flodesk and HubSpot can lend a helping hand with email marketing, while Google Analytics offers invaluable insights into website traffic and user behavior.
Optimize Your Processes
Effective communication and file sharing are also key to managing your time effectively. Dropbox makes it a breeze to store, share, and access files from anywhere. And if you want to take your communication skills up a notch, Grammarly is here to help with suggestions for writing style, tone, and grammar. Lastly, automatic time tracking software like Toggl and IFTTT can work wonders by keeping track of billable hours and automating repetitive tasks, saving you valuable time to focus on other essential endeavors.
Run Your Business like a Boss
Mastering time management and prioritization is the secret ingredient to running a successful small business or being a thriving entrepreneur. By embracing time-saving and productivity boosting tech tools, you can supercharge your workflow, stay productive, and tackle tasks that truly propel your business forward. With these tools in your arsenal, you'll be equipped to navigate the daily challenges of small business ownership or entrepreneurship with much more ease, allowing you to focus more of your time and energy on vision, innovation, and growth.
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The Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce is a private non-profit organization that aims to support the growth and development of local businesses and our regional economy. We strive to create content that not only educates but also fosters a sense of connection and collaboration among our readers. Join us as we explore topics such as economic development, networking opportunities, upcoming events, and success stories from our vibrant community. Our resources provide insights, advice, and news that are relevant to business owners, entrepreneurs, and community members alike.
New Member Highlight – Grandview Nursing and Rehabilitation
Grandview Nursing & Rehabilitation is committed to providing the highest level of treatment, compassion, and service to its patients and residents by delivering comprehensive specialty care tailored to each person’s individual needs.
They strive to continually foster the progress of each person towards their maximum level of physical, mental, social, and spiritual functioning in a warm, attentive state-of-the-art environment that emphasizes the importance of engaging family members in the recovery and nursing care of their loved ones. Rooted in family and compassion, they focus on their residents’ individual needs and preferences and design personalized medical care plans to accommodate them.
Their center features a constant physician presence and specialists round regularly, assuring our residents of quality on-site medical care. In addition, they have their own diagnostic equipment allowing them to treat their residents in-house – avoiding the need to transport them elsewhere for testing… and for residents who require dialysis, Geisinger’s Dialysis Center is only 200 yards away.
Renowned in the community as a leading nursing home serving Montour County for close to four decades, Grandview’s experienced long term care nursing staff is committed to providing the highest quality care with compassion and dignity.
In their warm and family-like environment, their team of caregivers provides round-the-clock skilled nursing care while lovingly addressing each patient’s overall wellbeing and individualized needs. This all-encompassing approach fosters greater self-esteem and independence, and improved quality of life.
New Member Highlight – Joy and Smiles Gifts
Joy and Smiles Gifts has a mission of helping the community spread Joy and Smiles to all, with a side of laughter. Send a personalized, creative and unique gift experience, including fun Sing-a-grams.
New Member Highlight – Greystone Bloomsburg Storage
Greystone Storage has added a 5th location in Bloomsburg to best serve Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.
Our Bloomsburg location is conveniently located on Ridge Road and has storage units available today. Rentals can be booked online or on the phone at (570) 550-6301.
New Member Highlight – North Central Sight Services
North Central Sight Services, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization based in Williamsport, PA.
They are proud to provide business services (document management services, shredding, commercial vending, commercial drinking water service, bottle less water coolers) in North Central PA that create meaningful employment for individuals who are blind or visually impaired in our communities.
Proceeds from the business services help to fund the prevention of blindness education and vision screening for adults and children in our community.
North Central Sight Services, Inc. is a 501c(3) charitable organization designated by the IRS and is registered with the Bureau of Charities in the state of Pennsylvania.
Please visit their website to see if they have a service that would help your business to help us serve our community.
New Member Highlight – Life Remembered
Life Remembered founded by George Stoecklein, Sr. in the 1950s, Life Remembered, formerly CMS East, is one of the largest privately-owned cemetery organizations in the country. Locally they operate Elan Memorial Park a full-service cemetery dedicated to providing solutions for your family’s burial needs – no matter whether you prefer cremation, above-ground, or in-ground burial.
New Member Highlight – NEPA Vascular Institute
With over 35 years of combined expertise, NEPA Vascular Institute at 1918 W. Front St. in Berwick, offers a wide range of services focused on venous and arterial disease. Recently they added two hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers to help in the healing process of many types of wounds. This care will enhance the lives of many individuals living with chronic wounds withing Columbia and Montour Counties.
New Member Highlight – Doing Better Business
Since 1973, the Dellaposta family of businesses has continuously evolved to meet the diverse technology needs of organizations of all sizes. Built on a foundation of service, the company has been committed to putting customers first and responding to their needs well beyond the initial sale.
The employees are advocates for your business and will earn your trust through industry knowledge, customer-focused innovation, flexibility and most of all, integrity. They work hard to provide the best service at the best price!