search articles:     from the issue of November 3, 2005         Nebraska entrepreneurs rate health care as top cost of doing business  UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Nebraska businesses overwhelmingly listed health-care benefit costs as their leading priority for cost reduction in the latest Cost of Doing Business in Nebraska Survey by UNL's Bureau of Business Research. Conducted in July and August - before hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast and disrupted energy supplies - the survey was sent to 500 Nebraska businesses, half with fewer than 20 employees, half with 20 or more employees. Businesses were given a list of 19 cost factors, including both market-driven matters and others more directly tied to federal, state and local policies, and respondents were asked to select their top five priorities for reducing the cost of doing business in the state. The overall response rate was 51 percent and the results were published in the September issue of Business in Nebraska, the quarterly publication of the bureau, available online at http://bbr.unl.edu. Among all respondents, 62 percent rated health-care benefit costs as their leading priority for cost reduction, followed by federal taxes (49 percent), state taxes (48 percent), energy prices (43 percent), and transportation costs (38 percent). For mid-size and large businesses (those with 20 or more employees), health-care benefit costs were even more important, with 86 percent of respondents rating them as a leading concern, followed by workers compensation costs (50 percent), state taxes (39 percent), wages and salaries required by workers (37 percent), and energy prices (33 percent). "The high priority for health-care costs is consistent with a recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducts and annual survey on health-care costs. The foundation reported that health-care costs continued to grow strongly; these health-care costs have jumped 9.2 percent so far in 2005," Eric Thompson and Cory Buland wrote in Business in Nebraska. Thompson is an economist at UNL and director of the Bureau of Business Research. Buland is a graduate student in economics at UNL. To explore energy costs further, Thompson and Buland asked each business about the main driver of energy costs: Was it transportation, manufacturing or processing, building costs or technology/electronics? About half of respondents indicated transportation costs, but almost 40 percent indicated building costs. "This result suggests that many Nebraska businesses are affected most by energy costs associated with operating a building, such as heating, air conditioning, ventilation and lights," they wrote. "Efforts to lower these building-related energy costs can make a substantial contribution to lowering the cost of doing business in Nebraska." Thompson and Buland also compared the July-August results with those of a similar survey conducted in February and March and found relatively little change. Two more surveys are scheduled to be conducted in the next six months, which they said will make it possible to report priorities in additional industries and by region of the state. GO TO: ISSUE OF NOVEMBER 3 NEWS HEADLINES FOR NOVEMBER 3 Teens experience collegiate science Nebraska meals come to campus Pharmacy continues free prescription delivery service Scopes trial symposium this week Arboretum names rare rock clematis a 2006 GreatPlant Featured Speaker FROM THE ARCHIVES Kruger Collection goes 360° online Nebraska entrepreneurs rate health care as top cost of doing business 732253S35133X