Two-thirds of North Carolina voters are in favor of offering incentives to attract jobs to this state, a new survey shows. The survey from Raleigh-based polling firm American Insights showed that 67 percent of the North Carolina’s registered voters support incentives, particularly in areas of high unemployment. Read more…Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Matthew Faraci Office: (919) 645-0771 Email: press@americaninsights.org NEW POLL: NC Independent Voters Strongly Disapprove of Obama, Health Care Reform Rollout Damages Confidence in Government, Republicans Leading Generic Congressional Ballot American Insights Signature Survey finds that North Carolina’s registered voters disapprove of President Obama’s job performance, are wary of seeing his policy agenda in NC, have lost confidence in government following ACA rollout, and favor Republican candidates for US Congress 44% to 38%. (Raleigh, NC – March 18, 2014) — American Insights (AI), an innovative, North Carolina-based polling andRead More

I once got an entire darkroom by being the new kid on the block. A few days into a job as editor of a South Carolina weekly, I found an enlarger in a storage closet. Between that and petty cash, we were up and running before upper management knew a thing. And because we improved efficiency along with the product, upper management was so delighted that it sent me to a sister paper to do the same thing there. Best Schools N.C., a new nonprofit, enjoys the new-kid advantage. ReadRead More

A poll of business leaders conducted in November of 2013 details the potential negative effects of the Affordable Care Act on American businesses and employees.  The survey, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of the IFA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, interviewed 414 owners and C-level executives in businesses employing between 40 and 500 people from late September to mid-October. Business decision makers have already cut full-time positions and raised prices to cover the growing expense of health care expected as a result of changes brought on byRead More

An article by the Pew Research Center provides a detailed look at the recent report from the Congressional Budget Office outlining the tradeoffs involved with raising the minimum wage.  Those in favor of raising the minimum wage say that it would raise the standard of living for low-wage workers and ease poverty.  Those against say that it would eliminate jobs while raising costs for services across the board. It turns out that both sides are correct to some degree.  The CBO report projects that incomes for 16.5 million low-wage workersRead More

Early this month, CVS caused quite a stir in the major retailer world when they announced that they would no longer carry cigarettes in their store locations.   When it announced the move, the CEO said that the reasoning was based on the principle that tobacco products have no place in a health care environment.  While the move will cost significant money, company leadership is hoping that improved brand perception will result in higher sales. What has the result been so far? The most updated YouGov BrandIndex on CVS shows the USRead More

The most recent Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index reveals that optimism is at its highest point since the third quarter of 2008.  While the optimism scores are still well below the pre-recession levels, it represents a significant uptick that may indicate that as the economy continues its slow recovery so will small businesses across the country.  Several factors contributed to the positive sentiment among small business owners including: Improved cash flow An increase in hiring Increasing revenue Less difficulty in accessing credit Despite the increase in positive sentiment, small businessRead More