with the presidential election decided, some small-business owners say they are ready to start hiring and investing. according to a flash poll of more than 380 owners of small firms conducted on wednesday for the wall street journal by vistage worldwide inc., 49% of those polled said donald trump <u+2019>s victory had improved their outlook for the economy and nearly one in five said they would increase hiring or capital investments because of the election outcome. mr. trump<u+2019>s victory <u+201c>gives us the confidence to go out and invest more money and hire more people,<u+201d> tim justice, chief executive of rescom construction inc. in greenville, s.c., who supported the republican candidate. mr. justice, who has 23 employees, said he would hold off until after mr. trump takes office in january and begins putting in place his promised policies like tax cuts and deregulation. kenny rabalais, owner of the plant gallery inc., a garden center, florist and landscape firm in new orleans with 48 employees, said he is ready to proceed with a new 30,000 square foot state-of-the-art building that has been on the side burner for the past four or five years. the election results are <u+201c>a green light,<u+201d> said mr. rabalais, a supporter of mr. trump. <u+201c>interest rates are down. it seems like we will have growth in the future.<u+201d> but the vistage poll results weren<u+2019>t all rosy. more than 35% of those surveyed said the election results worsened their outlook, and nearly 20% said they planned to decrease those expenditures. many business owners remain uncertain. <u+201c>part of the challenge has been that donald trump hasn<u+2019>t been particularly solid on his economic views,<u+201d> said dave cross, president of mowery construction inc. based in mechanicsburg, pa., which has 66 employees. mr. cross worries that mr. trump<u+2019>s tough stance on immigration could make it tougher for his subcontractors to find qualified workers, but is hopeful that a trump administration will lower taxes and rein in health-care costs, which are expected to increase by as much as 40% next year for his firm. the future of obamacare is a major issue for small business supporters of both candidates. lynne king smith, chief executive of ticketforce llc, a provider of ticketing software, said that the affordable care act has made it easier to provide health care to the mesa, ariz., firm<u+2019>s 25 employees. ms. king smith, a supporter of democratic presidential nominee hillary clinton, worries that her firm will have trouble competing in the job market if it can<u+2019>t provide quality health coverage to all of its employees. <u+201c>there<u+2019>s so much talk about repealing obamacare, but no talk about how to fix it,<u+201d> she said. jessica hawthorne-castro, who runs a full-service marketing firm in los angeles with roughly 100 employees, said she expects consumer products companies to increase advertising spending, which had been at a relative standstill over the past 90 days because of political uncertainty. if mr. trump maintains a strong focus on the economy, <u+201c>that can be positive for all,<u+201d> said ms. hawthorne-castro, who is the ceo of hawthorne llc and a supporter of mrs. clinton. write to ruth simon at ruth.simon@wsj.com
with election over, small firms look to hire, invest  - wsj
ruth simon