SMALL BUSINESS
CARTER ASSOCIATES PHOTOS
A Carter Associates survey crew poses in front of pickup truck during a break in their fieldwork.
This is how Carter Associates workers got around
in the early days of the company.
TCBusiness.com 15
mist and director of research for the
Florida Chamber Foundation, says after
financial security, the biggest factor facing
small business owners is finding enough
qualified applicants for open positions,
and keeping them. He cited a quarterly
survey of business owners by the Florida
Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business
Council.
“In this time of low unemployment
rates, most people that look can find a job,”
says Parrish. Employers say their workers
are often hired away, which means they
must find and train others, he says.
Bacher has only four workers now but
plans to hire about 20 workers for the larger
second campground. He had experience
with a larger staff when he operated a
campground in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Managing
20 workers some days took up nearly
all his time and created lots of drama.
“The biggest challenge is finding people
that can find solutions to the problems
that arise,” says Bacher. In his business,
workers must please customers who can
be demanding. “It’s important not to get
the customer upset. These days, if you
don’t respond well to every issue, a customer
can go to social media and leave a
bad rating for you, and that hurts us.”
Whiticar Boat Works’ Dragseth agreed that
finding good workers is a huge challenge.
“It is getting much more difficult to find
good labor,” Dragseth says. “We find ourselves
hiring people who are compatible
with our existing workforce, and we do as
much training as we can in-house.”
He also says that many employees who
learn the trade of fixing and refurbishing
boats take that training and start their
own small business, which goes into direct
competition with his. That happens most
when the economy is strong, he says.
“I’d rather employ people that other
people want rather than employ people
that nobody wants,” Dragseth says.
Of the 3.4 million people employed by
small businesses in Florida, 38 percent
of them work for companies that have
between 20 and 49 employees, Parrish
says, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
information.
PEOPLE SKILLS
While companies want employees with
experience in the types of jobs they are
seeking, the top desire among employers
is workers who are simply able to get
along with co-workers, solve problems
that arise and work on a team, Parrish says.
That means workers who are good at communicating
and have “soft skills” that may
not be on a job description, he explains.
“We need the soft skills,” says Dragseth,
“whether it’s civility, communication or
having the basic concept of being able to
hold a job. You arrive on time. Nothing’s
owed to you.”
Parrish says, “Smart businesses are hiring
people with hospitality skills.” Employers
can teach technical skills if the applicant
has the highly desired communications
skills. “Manufacturers and other types of
small businesses are hiring people from
the hospitality industry” because former
restaurant and hotel employees have been
taught the ability to work with others and
the public.
The huge concern among small business
owners in Florida is another recession.
According to the Florida Chamber
of Commerce’s Florida Scoreboard, 34.2
percent of state business owners surveyed
expect a recession as of August 2019, up
from only 11.2 percent in mid-2018.
Simons of Carter Associates says his
small business has weathered recessions,
and a Great Depression, in the past and expects
to be standing if another one occurs.
Simons is not one who expects a recession,
saying that there is a lot of confidence
in a strong economy now.
“We are more diversified now,” than in
past recessions, says Simons, indicating
that Carter works on an array of public
and private projects in the four-county
Treasure Coast, plus in Brevard County.
Another measure of the chance of recession
is the U.S. manufacturing index by the
Institute for Supply Management. In early
September that index dropped to its lowest
rate since January 2016, to below 50, which
suggests a loss in manufacturing output.
Running a small business has many
risks, and the failure rate of these businesses
is high. Failure rates for Treasure
Coast small businesses were not available.
For the United States, 20 percent of small
businesses fail in their first year of operation,
30 percent by their second year, and
half have failed within five years. Only 30
percent of small businesses are still in existence
after 10 years, according to Fundera,
a service that connects small business
owners with lenders.
“There are 285,100 jobs in Florida
looking for people, and 344,000 people
in Florida looking for jobs,” Parrish says,
citing July 2019 figures, according to the
Chamber’s Florida Scoreboard. The jobs
available figure rose 11.5 percent from two
years earlier, and the number of unemployed
fell 16.5 percent.
Statewide, the unemployment rate is 3.3
percent, and locally, 4.3 percent in St. Lucie;
3.5 percent in Martin; 4.2 percent in Indian
River; and 4.1 percent in Okeechobee,
according to the Florida Scoreboard.
The highest unemployment rates are in
Hendry County at 8.2 percent and Hardee
County at 6.7 percent. The lowest rate was
in Monroe County, at 2.3 percent.
July’s 3.3 percent statewide unemployment
rate compares with 3.5 percent in
July 2018 and 4.1 percent in July 2017.
The state’s highest unemployment rate
since the recession of 2008-2009 was 11.3
percent in February 2010. v
/TCBusiness.com
