VOA常速英语2015--美国小企业对经济保持谨慎乐观（在线收听）

美国小企业对经济保持谨慎乐观

NEW YORK— The U.S. Small Business Administration classifies a business with less than 500 employees as small. Right now, there are 23 million small businesses across the United States and together they account for 54 percent of all U.S. sales.

Mark Zwerdling started Generation Z, a youth sports marketing company, seven years ago. He has three employees and lists cash flow, responsibility to employees, and being nimble as keys to success.

马克·兹沃德林7年前创立了青年体育营销公司Z一代，他有三名雇员，他认为现金流、对员工的责任和灵敏是成功的关键。

“I think people are looking to do business with small companies, again I hate using the word nimble, but I think that’s something businesses are looking for from some of their vendors is being nimble. So, I think people are very excited about where the economy is and where opportunities lie and I think that’s kind of a unique thing," said Zwerdling.

“我认为人们人们在寻求和小公司做生意，再说一次我讨厌用灵敏这个词，但我想企业希望从一些供应商那里获得的就是灵敏。人们对目前经济发展如何、机会在哪里感到激动，我想这是独一无二的东西。”

At Snowdonia, a Welsh-style restaurant in Queens, New York, owner Carrie Spiller says she is now barely making a profit two years after opening. In addition to the high cost of electricity, Spiller was surprised by the extent government involvement in her business.

在纽约昆士兰名叫斯诺登尼亚的爱尔兰风格餐厅里，店主嘉莉·施佩尔说在营业两年后，现在几乎赚不到钱。除了高昂的电费外，施佩尔对政府插手自己生意的程度感到吃惊。

"Basically, I think it was taxes that was my biggest lesson. Employee tax, you have to pay unemployment, sales tax, naturally. Just all these little elements that go into what your monthly responsibility is and it, especially in the beginning, is overwhelming," she said.

“基本上来说，我想税收是我吸取的最大教训。职工所得税，当然还得支付失业税、营业税。所有这些小的方面每月加在一起就是非常沉重的负担，尤其对于营业初期来说。”

The small business owners VOA spoke with cite health care costs as one of the biggest expenses and risks. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees are not required to offer health insurance, but to attract and keep employees - it’s basically a necessity.

美国之音采访的小企业主们称医疗成本是最大的开支和风险，雇员少于50人的小企业不要求提供医疗保险，但要吸引并留住雇员，这是基本的需要。

David Rosini, who owns an engineering company, says providing health care is almost the biggest and most frustrating issue he faces.

戴维·罗西尼拥有一家工程公司，他说提供医疗保险是他面临的最大也最让人沮丧的事情。

“We cover most of their health care expenses and since I’ve been doing this for 10 years, every single year health care goes up 20 to 25 percent," he said. "And every year we shop around to try and get the best coverage for the most reasonable rates and it’s just something that we cannot control."

“自从开公司10年以来，我们都要承担雇员医疗开支的大部分，每年医疗支出都要占20%到25%，每年我们都要货比三家寻找能提供最好医疗保险的地方，当然要以最合理的价格，而这是我们无法控制的。”

A recent economic forecast from Bank of America/CFI Group says small businesses are doing well. But according to Sue Lonergan, the bank’s small business executive, there is caution with the optimism.

美国银行和科罗思咨询集团发布的最新经济预测称小企业表现不错，但该银行的小企业高管苏·朗尼根说应保持谨慎乐观。

“Small businesses are still hesitant to spend and expand, and that includes hiring and they’re very nervous about the fact that there could be turnover because there is potentially some wage inflation on the forefront," she said.

“小企业在开支和扩张方面仍很犹豫，包括雇佣，他们对可能有营业额这个事实感到不安，因为其中可能存在一些工资通胀。”

The survey also showed the American entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in millenials, those who were born in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of them are looking forward to owning their own small businesses and are very optimistic about the economy.

这项调查还表明，美国人的企业家精神在千禧一代中仍很盛行，也就是出生于20世纪80年代到90年代之间的人，他们很多人仍希望拥有自己的小公司，对经济非常乐观。