Daniel Speer had a simple task: Visit three clients of his home remodeling company in and around Washington, D.C. While conversations with each client averaged only 15-30 minutes, the total time invested in those three conversations totaled more than six hours, due to traffic, poor road conditions and aging infrastructure — challenge that affect Speer’s business operations every day.Multiply that inefficiency by the 50 trucks in Speer’s fleet, and it’s easy to see why he says that the state of infrastructure today “makes it difficult to do business.”
Speer’s frustrations are a microcosm of challenges felt by small businesses across the United States, according to results of the most recent MetLife & U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index.
The survey was conducted among 1,001 small business owners in all 50 states. For the first time, the survey asked small-business owners about their views on American infrastructure, including highways, roads, railroads, ports, communications, and Internet infrastructure.
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