Confidence is growing as we enter the new year. According to the NFIB Research Foundation, the small business outlook for expansion survey has shown a dramatic surge. In December 2016, 23% of small businesses surveyed answered affirmatively to the question “are the next three months a good time to expand.” This is up nearly 3- fold from the level that answered affirmatively in December 2015. The trend was sustained in January 2017 with 25% of those surveyed responding affirmatively vs. 10% in January 2015. The small business sector appears unshackled and ready to flex their expansion muscles.