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Columbus business owners report record optimism even as inflation bites
Summary
Panelists at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum said local small-business optimism hit highs in a PNC survey, while leaders warned inflation, tariffs and health-care costs could force price increases; city and nonprofit programs, including microloans and a Small Biz Hub, aim to help.
Columbus — Small-business owners in Central Ohio are unusually optimistic about their prospects even as they face rising costs, panelists said at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum on the city’s economic outlook.
PNC’s semiannual survey, cited by the forum’s host, showed 84% of respondents were optimistic about their own businesses, 67% were optimistic about the local economy and 58% were optimistic about the national economy. “They were highly optimistic — one of the highest we’ve seen,” said Stuart Hoffman, senior economic adviser at PNC, noting the survey was taken in July.
Why the optimism? Hoffman and other panelists pointed to strong job and labor-force growth in the region. “The greatest, fastest growth has been professional business services,” Hoffman said, adding manufacturing and construction…
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