Phil Porter
The Columbus Dispatch
October 23, 2004

Ohio appears to lag other states in small-business hiring.

New hires at small firms — those with fewer than 100 workers — rose 2.5 percent from January to September, according to a survey by SurePayroll of Skokie, Ill. That compares with a decline of 6.5 percent in Ohio for the same period, the poll showed.

SurePayroll handles payroll accounts for 13,000 small businesses nationwide.

In Ohio, small-business workers’ paychecks also were smaller, shrinking 3.4 percent from January to September, the survey found. The average in Ohio was $26,316, compared with $29,724 nationally, according to the survey.

Ohio’s hiring ranked fifthlowest in the survey, better only than Florida, Michigan, Oregon and Washington.

Small businesses nationwide resumed hiring in April after a first-quarter lull, said SurePayroll spokesman Michael Alter. According to the survey, Florida, Maryland and New York showed declining payrolls while gains were made in California, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Ohioans saw none of these gains, the survey found.

Ken Mayland, president of Clearview Economics in suburban Cleveland, said there is no denying that the state’s employment information shows Ohio is lagging other states.

A fall economic outlook released in September by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. suggested that Ohio’s economy lagged other Midwestern states but is improving.

"The undeniable truth is that Ohio is losing market share to the rest of the nation," Mayland said.

Melanie Sabelhaus, deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said progress is being made on the job front.

In a visit to Columbus this week, she said she is "passionately optimistic" about small businesses owned by women, whose numbers are growing at twice the rate of those owned by men. About 1,600 companies owned by women are opening each day nationally, she said.

Minority women are creating new small businesses at four times the rate of men, she said.

Sabelhaus said she is optimistic because lending by the U.S. Small Business Administration rose 26 percent in the 2004 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, in the 66 Ohio counties overseen by the agency’s Columbus office.

Small businesses typically are credited with creating 80 percent of new jobs in America.

Sabelhaus pointed out that Intel, Nike and, in central Ohio, Cheryl’s Cookies, are examples of companies that got their start as small businesses.

Copyright © 2004. The Columbus Dispatch.