The notion that small businesses will be the lifeblood of economic recovery took a local hit with the release of a biannual study by PNC Financial Services, the AJC's Biz Beat has pointed out. Only 18 percent of small and mid-sized business owners in metro Atlanta intend to add workers in the next six months — a drop of 34 percent from those who planned to expand six months ago.
It gets — gulp — worse. The study found that optimism among Atlanta business owners, as it relates to business prospects, is down from the spring, and that more that 26 percent now consider themselves pessimists. What's more, the study found more than half of business owners think they're "worse off" since swingin' 2007. Probably not good news for Mayor Kasim Reed and his pals at Invest Atlanta, who in August launched a program called Start Up Atlanta to incubate new local businesses and jobs. The study's silver lining: Only 10 percent said they plan to reduce staff.
· Atlanta small business owners less inclined to hire [AJC]
—Josh Green
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