Business is strong because 25,000 people are moving into the state every month, he explains. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that it still came as a sobering shock to learn that Cox Communications recently stopped construction on a large facility in Phoenix. Nationally, too, small companies are still crying for workers, the NFIB survey shows. A shortage of labor was No. 2 on the list of problems cited by its members, behind taxes. Nor does he find news of layoffs and lower earnings at many corporations particularly alarming.
Some small businesses see the slowdown as a chance to, yes, slow down.
Our constituency was so exhausted for such a long time to keep up with the incredible demand that the economy meant for them. Some retailers might be in trouble, particularly those whose fortunes seem linked to the stock market, as well small businesses selling to the auto and telecommunications industries, brokerages, and other hard-hit manufacturing or technology sectors, might be in trouble. But the sky is not falling, say those who work with small-business owners across the country. It would help, Scofield says, if Chicken Little would stop writing the headlines. Right now, we still have an economy, on the whole, that's doing very well.