Hiring starts to pick up

  • Associated Press
  • Thursday, August 12, 2004 9:00pm
  • Business

When the Labor Department announced that U.S. employers had created a meager 32,000 jobs during July, the news didn’t necessarily mean that the nation’s small businesses are going through an economic crisis.

Economists say that as far as many small companies go, the government’s data may not reflect reality; they say small businesses are increasingly inclined to add workers.

“They’re hiring,” said William Dunkelberg, chief economist with the National Federation of Independent Business, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. He said the federation’s latest survey of its members, taken in July, found that “their hiring plans improved even more.”

At Accurate Manufactured Products Group, “business for us is still very strong” despite the softness of the economy in the spring, said Matt Goldberg, president of the Indianapolis-based company.

The company, which moved this year from New York, has expanded to 20 employees from 11. It not only replaced workers who didn’t transfer with the company, but created new positions as sales increased.

“We expect to add more,” Goldberg said.

Many small companies go about the hiring process in an extremely deliberate fashion, waiting to take on new employees until their business justifies the expansion. That’s a very different approach from companies that might hire in anticipation of better times.

“I am probably one of the cheapest, slowest people to hire in the world,” said Clint Greenleaf, CEO of Austin, Texas-based Greenleaf Book Group. But with his business growing, he’s adding four staffers to his payroll of 10.

Greenleaf said sales at the book publisher and distributor grew more than 100 percent in 2003, and this year is expected to be strong as well.

“Our growth has been such that I haven’t seen a bad economy,” he said. “That said, it (the weak economy) probably adds to my level of cautiousness. … I don’t want to be in a position to fire someone.”

Herz Financial, which specializes in estate planning for the wealthy, has no plans to add staff at its offices in Farmington, Conn., or Boca Raton, Fla. Senior vice president Randy Herz said this reflects a prudent attitude toward hiring, not a slowdown in business.

Herz said the company would rather invest more in technology to make itself efficient than in new employees. So it’s more likely to buy a $20,000 piece of labor-saving equipment than hire a $45,000-a-year worker.

In expanding a staff, “you have all the headaches of hiring, firing, employment issues, management, training,” he said.

For some companies, there are issues beyond a difficult economy that affect hiring decisions.

At PR Farms, a Clovis, Calif., fruit grower, state regulations are making it hard to add to the 250-person staff, general manager Pat Ricchiuti said.

“I just feel that we’re limited in our growth and expansion because of all the issues we’re going to face. Every time we turn around, they create new laws,” Ricchiuti said.

He said it makes more economic sense to pay workers overtime than to hire more employees and incur additional workers’ compensation costs.

He also said the state’s minimum wage – $6.75 an hour, compared with the federal minimum of $5.15 – makes his company’s peaches, plums, grapes and other fruit less competitive than those produced in other states.

Ricchiuti said the combination of these and other regulations have made it hard to turn a profit.

“There are some crops now that we’re just breaking even on,” he said.

Small Business is a weekly column on the topic by The Associated Press.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

A closing sign hangs above the entrance of the Big Lots at Evergreen and Madison on Monday, July 22, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Big Lots announces it will shutter Everett and Lynnwood stores

The Marysville store will remain open for now. The retailer reported declining sales in the first quarter of the year.

George Montemor poses for a photo in front of his office in Lynnwood, Washington on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.  (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Despite high mortgage rates, Snohomish County home market still competitive

Snohomish County homes priced from $550K to $850K are pulling in multiple offers and selling quickly.

Henry M. Jackson High School’s robotic team, Jack in the Bot, shake hands at the 2024 Indiana Robotics Invitational.(Henry M. Jackson High School)
Mill Creek robotics team — Jack in the Bot — wins big

Henry M. Jackson High School students took first place at the Indiana Robotic Invitational for the second year in a row.

The computer science and robotics and artificial intelligence department faculty includes (left to right) faculty department head Allison Obourn; Dean Carey Schroyer; Ishaani Priyadarshini; ROBAI department head Sirine Maalej and Charlene Lugli. PHOTO: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College.
Edmonds College to offer 2 new four-year degree programs

The college is accepting applications for bachelor programs in computer science as well as robotics and artificial intelligence.

FILE — Boeing 737 MAX8 airplanes on the assembly line at the Boeing plant in Renton, Wash., on March 27, 2019. Boeing said on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, that it was shaking up the leadership in its commercial airplanes unit after a harrowing incident last month during which a piece fell off a 737 Max 9 jet in flight. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)
Federal judge rejects Boeing’s guilty plea related to 737 Max crashes

The plea agreement included a fine of up to $487 million and three years of probation.

Neetha Hsu practices a command with Marley, left, and Andie Holsten practices with Oshie, right, during a puppy training class at The Everett Zoom Room in Everett, Washington on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Tricks of the trade: New Everett dog training gym is a people-pleaser

Everett Zoom Room offers training for puppies, dogs and their owners: “We don’t train dogs, we train the people who love them.”

Andy Bronson/ The Herald 

Everett mayor Ray Stephenson looks over the city on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2015 in Everett, Wa. Stephanson sees  Utah’s “housing first” model – dealing with homelessness first before tackling related issues – is one Everett and Snohomish County should adopt.

Local:issuesStephanson

Shot on: 1/5/16
Economic Alliance taps former Everett mayor as CEO

Ray Stephanson will serve as the interim leader of the Snohomish County group.

Molbak's Garden + Home in Woodinville, Washington will close on Jan. 28. (Photo courtesy of Molbak's)
After tumultuous year, Molbak’s is being demolished in Woodinville

The beloved garden store closed in January. And a fundraising initiative to revitalize the space fell short.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center executive director Larry Cluphf, Boeing Director of manufacturing and safety Cameron Myers, Edmonds College President Amit Singh, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, July 2 celebrating the opening of a new fuselage training lab at Paine Field. Credit: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College
‘Magic happens’: Paine Field aerospace center dedicates new hands-on lab

Last month, Edmonds College officials cut the ribbon on a new training lab — a section of a 12-ton Boeing 767 tanker.

Gov. Jay Inslee presents CEO Fredrik Hellstrom with the Swedish flag during a grand opening ceremony for Sweden-based Echandia on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Swedish battery maker opens first U.S. facility in Marysville

Echandia’s marine battery systems power everything from tug boats to passenger and car ferries.

Helion Energy CEO and co-founder David Kirtley talks to Governor Jay Inslee about Trenta, Helion’s 6th fusion prototype, during a tour of their facility on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
State grants Everett-based Helion a fusion energy license

The permit allows Helion to use radioactive materials to operate the company’s fusion generator.

People walk past the new J.sweets storefront in Alderwood Mall on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Japanese-style sweets shop to open in Lynnwood

J. Sweets, offering traditional Japanese and western style treats opens, could open by early August at the Alderwood mall.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.