Hawaii small businesses rate economy, ethics in government as most important election issues

Washington, DC, 10/3/2012 - The George Washington University  and Thumbtack.com have released new data showing that Hawaii small businesses overwhelmingly rank the economy and jobs as the most important factor in choosing a president. Surprisingly, however, ethics, honesty and corruption in government rated as the second-most important issue for small businesses in Hawaii.

Although both presidential campaigns claim to promote policies that benefit small businesses, too little attention has focused on asking entrepreneurs themselves which policies are most important to their business. The George Washington-Thumbtack.com Small Business Political Sentiment Survey is unique in investigating the political issues that matter most to small businesses themselves, drawing data from an extensive, nationwide universe of job creators and entrepreneurs.

“Small businesses are deeply attuned to the effect of politics on job creation and the economy,” said Dr. David Rehr, a lead researcher on the study with the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. “Entrepreneurs are feeling squeezed by the tight lending environment, and they want their elected leaders to curb the influence of money in politics.”

Some of the key findings for Hawaii include:

• 31% of all Hawaii small business owners rated the economy and jobs as the single most important factor for them in choosing a president.
• Nationally, 39% of small businesses say that President Obama is the most supportive candidate of small business, with 31% saying the same of Governor Romney. And 28% are still not sure which candidate is more supportive of small business.
• Hawaii small businesses rate health care costs as the single most burdensome cost to their businesses - more burdensome than even personal income tax or gas and fuel costs.
• 68% of Hawaii small businesses stated that state small business incentives are important to the success of their business.
• Among small business owners surveyed nationally, President Obama fared better than Governor Romney with businesses of five or fewer employees, 48% to 37%. The opposite was true among business of more than five employees, with Romney earning 49% to Obama’s 39% (among those registered and likely to vote).
• 20% of Hawaii small businesses indicated that President Obama's health care policy helps their business.
• Taxes do not appear to be a decisive factor for small businesses in this election, with only 3% of small businesses nationally rating it as the most important issue in their choice for president. Even among economic issues, tax policy was the top concern for less than 6% of small businesses.

• “What is the single most important issue in your choice for president?”
• “Thinking specifically about the economy, what is the most important economic issue in your choice for president?” and
• “How important are the following issues to the success of your business?”