2013 Star Tribune Survey Questions

The mail survey, conducted by Star Tribune researchers in February and March, was sent to 114 publicly held Minnesota-based companies. Forty-three companies answered, for a response rate of 38 percent. Not all companies responded to all questions. Overall, the views appear to represent the different industries but might underrepresent the views of larger companies.

Scale

3: Very important; 2: Important; 1: Somewhat important; 0: Not at all important

1. Please rate each of the following public policy issues according to how important it is to your business.

Economy2.72Hiring/retaining workers2.72

Federal tax rates2.46Health care benefits2.41

State tax rates2.26 Wage rates2.00

2. What are your company's plans for capital spending in the next 12 months?

Increase cap. spending58.5%No significant changes 39.0%

Decrease cap. spending2.4%

3. What are your company's hiring plans for the next 12 months?

Increase head count 63.4%Keep staff about same 31.7%

4. Does the cost of health care influence a decision to add employees?

Some influence 48.7%Little or no influence 35.9%

Significant influence 15.4 %

5. Gov. Mark Dayton has proposed a number of changes to the state's sales tax system in order to stabilize the budget.

Do you agree or disagree with the following proposals:

Disagree85.3%Agree 14.7%

Add a business-to-business services sales tax to include lawyers, accountants and others.

Disagree94.1%Agree 5.9%

Scale: 3: Very significant; 2: Significant; 1: Somewhat significant; 0: Not at all significant

6. Businesses face pressure on many economic and political fronts. Rank how significant these pressures are on your business.

Increased regulatory enforcement2.24

Energy costs 2.03The Minnesota economy 1.97

Global competition 1.92Housing slump 1.42

Privacy regulations1.24Terrorism 1.00

Climate change 0.92

Better than 2012 86.5%About the same 13.5%

Worse than 20120.0%

8. Compared with 2012, does your business or industry have more or less access to capital?

About the same 81.6%More access 18.4%

Less access 0.0%

Decrease spending and/or hiring41.4%

Put hiring and spending on hold27.6%

Increase spending and/or hiring24.1%

No change from 2012 6.9%

10. New types of health coverage, including high-deductible plans, have spread in recent years. Do you agree or disagree that these new plans are helping to reduce health care costs?

11. In the next 12 months, how does your company plan to allocate excess capital? (Percentages exceed 100 because companies could choose multiple answers.)

Focus on internal growth 85.7%Buy back shares 42.9%

Make acquisitions 31.4%Increase dividend 31.4%