Small business owners have the brightest economic outlook in four years, Union Bank has announced in its annual Small Business Economic Survey, adding that nearly a third of entrepreneurs hired staff and that significantly fewer reported layoffs in 2014. For the first time since 2012, the study says, the majority of small business owners overall believe the economy is heading in the right direction, with an all-time high of 90 percent believing their business is headed in the right direction. The rise in optimism reflects data showing that more entrepreneurs worked longer hours in 2014 due to increased business (61 percent, up 6 points from 2013). Despite the rosier economic outlook, hints of restraint remain in capital and labor budgets for 2015, with most San Diego County business owners planning to maintain the same capital spending and staffing levels as those of last year. In addition, significantly more business owners in San Diego County (26 percent, up 20 points) and statewide (20 percent, up 8 points) plan to move their business out of state, primarily due to tax burdens. “The survey results reflect what we’re seeing among small business owners who are encouraged about the economy and gradually hired additional staff in 2014,” said Union Bank managing director Todd Hollander, head of business banking. “Taxes remain a challenge for small business owners, especially in California, but as the economy continues to strengthen, labor and capital budgets will likely grow.” Increasingly, San Diego County owners (49 percent, up 3 points) believe the business climate will improve in the next two years. This optimism is reflected in the outlook for the economy, as more San Diego County small business owners than last year (55 percent, up 24 points) believe the national economy is heading in the right direction and more owners than last year (55 percent, up 6 points) believe their state’s economy is heading in the right direction. Among the industries surveyed, 100 percent of owners from the personal services sector (auto repair, salons, dry cleaning, et cetera) believe their business is headed in the right direction (up 10 points); more owners from this sector also expressed optimism about the direction of the national economy (70 percent, up 42 points). In terms of their state’s economy, more owners from the professional services industry (physicians, certified public accountants, attorneys, et cetera) believe their state’s economy is headed in the right direction (67 percent, up 5 points). Retail store owners expressed the most pessimism about the economy — half believe the national economy is heading in the wrong direction and 53 percent believe their state’s economy is headed in the wrong direction. In San Diego County, fewer entrepreneurs (10 percent, down 7 points) applied for a loan or access to credit in 2014 than in 2013. Of those who applied, significantly fewer were approved than in 2013 (57 percent, down 26 points). Union Bank was recently ranked the country’s fifth largest Small Business Administration lender. It maintains nine branches in La Jolla.