Area businesses plan expansion

By Jim Kinney

06/01/2009- The Republican

SPRINGFIELD - Forty-four percent of businesses in the Pioneer Valley and nearby Connecticut plan to expand their business over the next two years, according to a survey released last week by the Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership.

In the next five years, only 2 percent of businesses surveyed plan to close; 9 percent plan to sell; and 4 percent plan to move from the area.

"Overall, our businesses see the possibilities in this economy," said Jason J. Giulietti, a research economist for Connecticut Business & Industry Association in Hartford. "That surprised us."
With 44 percent saying they plan to grow, that left a majority of 56 percent saying they plan either to hold steady or shrink, Giulietti said.

Of the businesses that plan to close, 25 percent said it was because of the high cost of doing business in the region, 35 percent said they plan to retire, 25 percent blamed the national economy and 15 percent said "other."

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association conducted the survey on behalf of the Springfield-Hartford Economic Partnership. The partnership last did the study two years ago when business leaders were even more optimistic, Giullietti said.

The survey polled about 700 businesses, 48 percent from Hartford, Tolland and Middlesex counties in Connecticut and 52 percent from Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties in Massachusetts.

Jim Kinney can be reached at jkinney@repub.com