April 2, 2025 • 5 mins
Former Lt. Governor and now President and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan Brian Caley joins us to discuss a recent survey on how small businesses are doing.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Add taking cold medicine for that guy through distracted driving,
says West Michigan's Morning News Steve Kelly, Brett Kita, and
Laurence Smith. We mentioned margins are tight, especially for small businesses,
and then you add a little uncertainty given whatever's happening
in the Rose Garden today about the price of doing business.
And Brian Kelly there to help, former Lieutenant governor now
(00:22):
president and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan.
Thank you so much for doing this today.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Pleasure to be with you. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
You guys have done some work, some pollwark to find
out about just how they are feeling when it comes
to small businesses here in West Michigan. What were some
of the takeaways?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, hot off the presses here is we're just looking
at the preliminary numbers and we'll post them later on today.
The biggest concern, Number one is the economy. That if
you're to look at the last quarterly surveys going back
actually several years, inflation has been has been the top
and the economy, the concern over the economy has taken
(01:02):
has taken the number one spot. Well. Also pretty concerning
that about sixty six percent are now taking steps to
prepare for a recession. It's one thing to say, do
you think recession is going to happen or not? But
the real for us, the real answer is are you
doing anything about it? Are you worried enough to be
pulling back on hiring or pulling back on spending, or
(01:24):
pulling back on capital expenditures. And two out of three
are saying yeah, they're starting to act more conservatively, to
be more careful. So these are our results that would
suggest that people are feeling the pinch right now. They're
concerned about the future.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Brian. Are there certain categories where it's even more concerning?
I say that because it seems like in the news
lately we've had a lot here in Grand Rapids and
West Michigan about local restaurants and you can they make
it through and they bounce back after COVID, But are
there certain categories to be concerned about?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Well? I think that we have some localized concerns here
in Michigan because of the new costs that have been
imposed on a lot of industries that are dominated by
small businesses like restaurants. For example, the new earnstick leaves
requirements the minimum wage changes happening at the same time,
and then unemployment benefits increasing at the state level. This
(02:18):
looks like a one two three punch that smaller companies
are taking at a time when they're already experiencing much
higher cost increases. And so you put that together with
lower consumer confidence and concern about the economy overall, you
have both the supply side cost increases and cost pressures,
and on the demand side, customers may be pulling back some. Yeah,
(02:40):
it's definitely something that the industries that are dominated by
small business like restaurants, are feeling more and I think
feeling earlier. But I would suggest though that oftentimes what
small businesses are feeling and how they're feeling is a
precursor to the economy overall.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Brian, I know you had mentioned preparing for recession consumer
confidence concerns. What can we do as those consumers to
help out? What are you hearing from these small business owners?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Well, by local is the most important factor. I know
that there's a lot of I mean, there's just so much,
so many trends that that small businesses are are trying
to fight against. Where these huge forces in the economy
and the way that the online marketplace. You'd think that
would make things more inclusive, but you know, the tech
(03:33):
giants really do control that space. They control the market,
they control the algorithms, they control which I all see,
which messages And so for local people to decide they
want to keep their money local, they want to go
out of their way and just take a portion of
their spending and make sure that it's dedicated local, it
makes a big difference. Any One consumer is is you know,
(03:56):
that's something you know, that's one consumer making a decision,
A decision to keep money local helps But when it's
happening across the board, when there's a movement towards that,
it really does benefit our communities. We cannot take small
businesses for granted.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And for heaven's sakes, use the resources of the Small
Business Association of Michigan. I know you have an upcoming
small business Gala, a small business summit later this month too.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, we would love to have a big West Michigan
showing at our annual statewide Small Business Summit. In gala,
we recognize the fifty companies to watch every year and
it's just an awesome group of growing small businesses that
are just making a big impact in their communities. You
can tell a lot biases a lot by what a
(04:46):
society celebrates, and we celebrate small business and so on
April twenty twenty first and twenty second, that's when we
have the gala. And by the way, if you're a
Michigan State basketball fan, the gala takes place floor of
the Bruslim Center. I'm it really is. Michigan Celebrates dot
(05:07):
org is how you get tickets to it. But it
is just it's an action packed event. It's like a
it's like a prom for small businesses. You know, it's
a it's just an awesome place. Everybody gets dressed up.
It's a red carpet event. Awesome, awesome galea we celebrate
these small businesses that are making a huge impact in
our economy.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
A former Lieutenant governor now president and CEO of the
Small Business Association of Michigan, Brian Kelly, thanks for your
time today.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Thanks great to be with you.
Add taking cold medicine for that guy through distracted driving,
says West Michigan's Morning News Steve Kelly, Brett Kita, and
Laurence Smith. We mentioned margins are tight, especially for small businesses,
and then you add a little uncertainty given whatever's happening
in the Rose Garden today about the price of doing business.
And Brian Kelly there to help, former Lieutenant governor now
(00:22):
president and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan.
Thank you so much for doing this today.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Pleasure to be with you. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
You guys have done some work, some pollwark to find
out about just how they are feeling when it comes
to small businesses here in West Michigan. What were some
of the takeaways?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, hot off the presses here is we're just looking
at the preliminary numbers and we'll post them later on today.
The biggest concern, Number one is the economy. That if
you're to look at the last quarterly surveys going back
actually several years, inflation has been has been the top
and the economy, the concern over the economy has taken
(01:02):
has taken the number one spot. Well. Also pretty concerning
that about sixty six percent are now taking steps to
prepare for a recession. It's one thing to say, do
you think recession is going to happen or not? But
the real for us, the real answer is are you
doing anything about it? Are you worried enough to be
pulling back on hiring or pulling back on spending, or
(01:24):
pulling back on capital expenditures. And two out of three
are saying yeah, they're starting to act more conservatively, to
be more careful. So these are our results that would
suggest that people are feeling the pinch right now. They're
concerned about the future.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Brian. Are there certain categories where it's even more concerning?
I say that because it seems like in the news
lately we've had a lot here in Grand Rapids and
West Michigan about local restaurants and you can they make
it through and they bounce back after COVID, But are
there certain categories to be concerned about?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Well? I think that we have some localized concerns here
in Michigan because of the new costs that have been
imposed on a lot of industries that are dominated by
small businesses like restaurants. For example, the new earnstick leaves
requirements the minimum wage changes happening at the same time,
and then unemployment benefits increasing at the state level. This
(02:18):
looks like a one two three punch that smaller companies
are taking at a time when they're already experiencing much
higher cost increases. And so you put that together with
lower consumer confidence and concern about the economy overall, you
have both the supply side cost increases and cost pressures,
and on the demand side, customers may be pulling back some. Yeah,
(02:40):
it's definitely something that the industries that are dominated by
small business like restaurants, are feeling more and I think
feeling earlier. But I would suggest though that oftentimes what
small businesses are feeling and how they're feeling is a
precursor to the economy overall.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Brian, I know you had mentioned preparing for recession consumer
confidence concerns. What can we do as those consumers to
help out? What are you hearing from these small business owners?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Well, by local is the most important factor. I know
that there's a lot of I mean, there's just so much,
so many trends that that small businesses are are trying
to fight against. Where these huge forces in the economy
and the way that the online marketplace. You'd think that
would make things more inclusive, but you know, the tech
(03:33):
giants really do control that space. They control the market,
they control the algorithms, they control which I all see,
which messages And so for local people to decide they
want to keep their money local, they want to go
out of their way and just take a portion of
their spending and make sure that it's dedicated local, it
makes a big difference. Any One consumer is is you know,
(03:56):
that's something you know, that's one consumer making a decision,
A decision to keep money local helps But when it's
happening across the board, when there's a movement towards that,
it really does benefit our communities. We cannot take small
businesses for granted.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And for heaven's sakes, use the resources of the Small
Business Association of Michigan. I know you have an upcoming
small business Gala, a small business summit later this month too.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, we would love to have a big West Michigan
showing at our annual statewide Small Business Summit. In gala,
we recognize the fifty companies to watch every year and
it's just an awesome group of growing small businesses that
are just making a big impact in their communities. You
can tell a lot biases a lot by what a
(04:46):
society celebrates, and we celebrate small business and so on
April twenty twenty first and twenty second, that's when we
have the gala. And by the way, if you're a
Michigan State basketball fan, the gala takes place floor of
the Bruslim Center. I'm it really is. Michigan Celebrates dot
(05:07):
org is how you get tickets to it. But it
is just it's an action packed event. It's like a
it's like a prom for small businesses. You know, it's
a it's just an awesome place. Everybody gets dressed up.
It's a red carpet event. Awesome, awesome galea we celebrate
these small businesses that are making a huge impact in
our economy.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
A former Lieutenant governor now president and CEO of the
Small Business Association of Michigan, Brian Kelly, thanks for your
time today.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Thanks great to be with you.
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