Electrical distributors sure seem much more optimistic about 2012, when you consider the survey results from Electrical Wholesaling’s 2012 Market Planning Guide.

Along with their forecast that overall sales in the electrical wholesaling industry will grow 5.1% in 2012 are their expectations that the commercial lending environment will be better, and their plans to invest in their companies next year. Overall, 44% of survey respondents said they didn’t expect the commercial lending environment to restrict their growth at all in 2012, and only 13% said it would have a significant impact on their growth plans (see Fig. 1).

It’s also interesting to compare the various types of business investment that electrical distributors plan for 2012. Figure 2 clearly shows that more than double the number of electrical wholesalers plan to hire new employees (159 distributors) and/or invest in their IT capabilities (112 distributors) than make the other business investments mentioned. Respondents were asked to check off the different investments they plan to make in their firms next year, so the percentages add up to more than 100%.

These results correlate with the general sense among economists that while U.S. business owners are nervously following the pyrotechnics on Capitol Hill over the debt crisis and are concerned with any potential shockwaves from Europe’s economic troubles, they are cautiously investing in their own businesses.