Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1170674
70 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 2019 Joe Brennan is the CEO and president of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, the state's leading business lobbying group. The State of Small Business Connecticut companies face both challenges and opportunities By Matthew Broderick Last year, Amazon had several states, including Connecticut, clamoring – with tax incentives in hand – to land the online retail behemoth's second U.S. headquarters. It was all over the news. But while it is often major corporate players whose moves make major headlines, Connecticut's economy, like much of America's, is mostly driven by small – not large – businesses. In fact, 99.4% of companies in the Nutmeg state are considered small, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA), and these firms collectively accounted for more than 735,000 jobs here – nearly half of all Connecticut private sector employment in 2018. The small business sector has been working its way back from the depths of the Great Recession a decade ago – including adding more than 7,300 net new jobs last year, SBA figures show. Yet while the number of small businesses in the state currently total more than 340,000 and have been steadily climbing, they continue to face headwinds on multiple fronts, including shifting consumer demands in a digital age, obstacles to accessing capital, increasing cost pressures, a graying skilled workforce, and legislative proposals that impact business. Joe Brennan, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), sees business costs as one key challenge small businesses here face. "In Connecticut, the cost of healthcare, energy costs, labor costs, and maybe taxes, are [often] higher across the board than in many other states," he said. "And the number of regulations and mandates on business are always a challenge." One of the high-profile proposed bills in play before the state legislature this year was an increase to the state's minimum wage. "It's harder for smaller businesses [to absorb those costs] than it might be for a mid-size or large company," Brennan explained, noting the majority of CBIA member business have fewer than 25 employees. However, there have been bright spots for the state's small business community, including a variety of resources – from online education to low-cost loans to advisory services – to help with a variety of needs, including business planning, financial management and marketing. That's important, said Joe Ercolano, state director of the Connecticut Small Business Development Center (SBDC), because while many small business owners have expertise in their own products or services, they may lack critical business-related skills, such as financial forecasting, marketing and benchmarking. Those are areas where SBSC's statewide team of 13 advisors can help. "Our advisors, research, and proprietary software tools can help point out where [a business] might have some weaknesses and recommend some strategies to address them," Ercolano explained, noting that financing and access to venture capital is often a top need for many businesses. In fact, the SBDC, which is funded in part though the SBA, helped Connecticut businesses access more than $46 million in capital in 2018, while helping to launch 64 new businesses and serving nearly 1,100 clients, according to Ercolano. Sheila Hummel, director of the Small Business Development Office SMALL BUSINESS SECTION SPONSOR