US Bank survey: Minn. small businesses more optimistic about recovery

Small business owners in Minnesota are more optimistic about the economic recovery compared to their cohorts in other states.

That's one of the conclusions of U.S. Bank's annual survey of small businesses.

Fifty-four percent of small businesses polled in Minnesota expect the economic recovery to continue this year, compared to 45 percent of small business owners nationally.

Nearly half of the respondents in Minnesota described conditions for small businesses as better here than in the rest of the country. The Minnesota small business owners responded more optimistically about revenue growth this year compared to their peers in other states.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

The survey polled about 3,200 small businesses with $10 million or less in annual revenue in 25 states. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

That Minnesota companies were generally more upbeat is not surprising to Craig Veurink, a regional small business banking manager with US Bank.

"We do have a large concentration of Fortune 500 companies and that concentration seems to also stabilize our market compared to the national average on most of these surveys," Veurink said. "I think it just gives us stability with how the small business owners work with them."

However, less than 20 percent of respondents in Minnesota said they would increase payrolls, about the same as small business owners polled nationally.