Many small firms not Y2K-ready
By Jane Larson
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 3, 1999
Up to 1.5 million small businesses, nearly two-thirds more than previously estimated, will enter the new year unprepared for Y2K, according to a survey being released today.
The results surprised pollsters at the National Federation of Independent Business, which has tracked small firms' Y2K attitudes since April 1998.
About 10 percent of firms with one to 99 employees said back in April that they were planning to address the computer problem. But the latest survey, done in October, showed that virtually none of them had done so.
That boosted the foundation's estimate of unprepared firms to 1.25 million to 1.5 million companies, or 26 percent of firms, from 850,000 back in April.
About 48 percent of small firms said they had taken action on Y2K, and an additional 4 percent said they plan to.
William Dennis, senior research fellow for the NFIB, speculated that many firms took action months ago when their banks and big customers were sending out letters asking for proof of Y2K compliance.
Despite the sheer numbers of unprepared firms, Dennis said there is some good news. Most of those firms tend to be small, with one to four employees, and their operations tend to be less dependent on computers.
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