Health insurance costs were identified as the single biggest obstacle to the retention or expansion of manufacturing businesses in New Jersey, followed by the overall cost of doing business in this State, which would include such things as the high cost of health insurance, property taxes, State business taxes, energy and State regulations.

State government’s attitude toward business and high property taxes shared third place in the ranking of obstacles. Survey participants also expressed significant concerns about the costs of energy, other insurance costs (outside of healthcare), the availability of skilled labor, wage and labor costs, State regulations and State taxes, as shown in the chart below.

The survey also took a more detailed look at the attitude of manufacturers toward problem areas in taxation, insurance and regulation. In the area of taxation, State corporate and business taxes were seen as a “big problem” by half of respondents, compared with 56 percent who said property taxes were a big problem. In the regulatory arena, State environmental regulations were seen as the biggest problem.

Details of the survey findings can be found in NJBIA’s full report on the 2004 Manufacturing Survey.

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