President Barack Obama spent much of his final State of the Union speech Tuesday painting a brighter picture of the nation's economy than has been drawn by some presidential candidates this election season—and several trade groups agreed with him, although they argued the economic progress has come about despite the president's policies.

Obama noted that when he took office in 2009, the U.S. was facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Economic conditions have greatly improved since then, with more than 14 million jobs created in the last 70 months, he said.

But Obama has often clashed with business groups on issues such as climate change policy, banking regulations and labor rules. While a few groups praised the president—such as solar manufacturers that benefit from stronger greenhouse gas regulations—several blasted his administration's push for regulations they said slowed down any economic progress that has been made.

"Small businesses have been loudly and clearly opposed to many of the very policies that he featured in his speech this evening, including the health care law, his energy regulations and mandatorily higher labor costs," said Dan Danner, CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business. "Small businesses don't need a stronger voice. They need someone to listen."

NFIB was not alone. Many associations issued statements either before or after Tuesday's address:

Economy/business regulations

David French, senior vice president for government relations, National Retail Federation
"The administration's job policy has been heavily influenced by unions, but being pro-labor is not the same as being pro-jobs or pro-workers. Unions are locked into a world of the past that is hierarchal and where advancement is based on seniority rather than ability. That approach is particularly hostile to Millennials, who make up the largest cohort of the workforce and will continue to do so for the next 20-30 years. They are creative, skilled and motivated. And—like retailers—they believe in empowering the individual and rewarding innovation and new ideas."

Jay Timmons, CEO, National Association of Manufacturers
"Instead of imposing new rules on business, including environmental regulations, providing regulatory relief could unleash billions of dollars of investment in the U.S. economy. Pursuing a comprehensive energy strategy that addresses current market realities would allow us to harness growth opportunities. Expanding health care options would help consumers make choices that best fit their needs."

Todd McCracken, president, National Small Business Association
"I applaud the president's call for policymakers to work together through ‘rational, constructive debates.' The frustration felt by small business owners as they see—and feel—the dysfunction in Washington is palpable. Small businesses continually tell me that the way Congress operates is no way to run a business, or a country for that matter. We applaud the president's call for changes to our politics, to allow our country to move forward on the big issues that confront us. Political reform and compromise ought to rank higher than the next election."

Bob Weidner, CEO, Metals Service Center Institute
"President Obama made it clear that he plans to continue ignoring Congress and issue additional regulations that expand federal power at the expense of American job creators and their employees. As I've done before, I call on the president and his advisers to rethink this ‘go it alone' strategy and engage the legislative branch to create and pass a pro-growth agenda that will balance our need to address problems like climate change and income inequality with the rising cost of doing business, creating jobs and providing benefits."

Dan Berger, CEO, National Association of Federal Credit Unions
"Our nation's credit unions are uniquely qualified to help make this a reality by facilitating access to capital and financial services in communities throughout Main Street America. Unfortunately, they are restricted by an arbitrary member business lending cap on credit unions. Lifting this arbitrary lending cap could make more capital available to small businesses and help create valuable jobs."

Doug Oberhelman, board chairman, Business Roundtable
"As President Obama said in his State of the Union address, we have seen progress since the end of the Great Recession. However, we still fall short of the economic growth that can provide all Americans greater opportunities for prosperity and success. President Obama and Congress should make 2016 the year of good jobs and stronger, sustained growth by enacting laws that help the U.S. economy reach its greatest potential."

Climate change/energy policy

Jack Gerard, CEO, American Petroleum Institute
"Instead of pursuing a barrage of job-crushing new regulations—many of which are duplicative and unnecessary—President Obama has the opportunity to seize the initiative and embrace policies that recognize the value of the energy resurgence and acknowledge that the goals of environmental progress and energy production are not mutually exclusive. By looking to science and real-world proven results to guide the policy choices during his final year in office, the president can ensure that America's energy resurgence continues to provide economic growth, environmental progress and security benefits."

Tom Kiernan, CEO, American Wind Energy Association
"If there's one thing (Americans) need to know it's this: American wind power has more than tripled in size and costs one-third as much as it did than when the president took office in 2009. U.S. wind energy is truly stronger now than it's ever been. By reaching new heights, this American success story is not only helping us build a better world for our children, it's also helping consumers save money in every corner of the United States."

Mike Duncan, CEO, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
"In the two years since the president's infamous promise to use the pen and phone during his lame duck term, the administration has sidestepped Congress and usurped states' rights time and again to fulfill his political legacy. We would welcome an honest, open dialogue with the president about the true costs of his energy policies but past experience tells us this won't occur."

Hal Quinn, CEO, National Mining Association
"American businesses and their workforce confront a conveyor belt of regulation after regulation demonstrating a troubling indifference to costs that destroy investment and high-wage jobs in return for little if any benefit. The results today are predictable. Despite the president's second-term goal to create 1 million manufacturing jobs, there is contraction in manufacturing, massive job losses in mining, forecasts of rising electricity prices, and growing reliance on imports of minerals and metals."

Dave McCurdy, CEO, American Gas Association
"President Obama is taking aggressive action at home and abroad to reverse the effects of climate change. The United States has a credible leadership role on this issue, in part, because of the country's abundant supply of natural gas and the adoption of aggressive fuel economy standards that have led to significant and continued declining emissions. Natural gas is part of the solution to climate change and will help the United States make progress toward ambitious emissions reduction targets."

Rhone Resch, CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association
"Since the president took office in 2009, the cost of solar energy has dropped by more than 70 percent, there's 30 times the amount of solar generation and our industry has created 173,000 American jobs. Solar energy growth will continue because it is affordable, improves the air we breathe and creates strong American jobs."

Randall Luthi, president, National Ocean Industries Association
"The president missed a golden opportunity to promote a broad-based energy policy consisting of both traditional and non-traditional sources of energy. Instead, he used rhetoric that dismissed the efforts of the men and women in the oil and natural gas industry by not recognizing that exploration, production and related activities provide tremendous economic benefits and thousands upon thousands of jobs—even in these times of low commodity prices."

Tim Wigley, president, Western Energy Alliance
"Obama's legacy will be overreaching regulations designed to constrict production of oil and natural gas in favor of unreliable alternatives. It's no coincidence there's a significant decline in production of natural gas on federal lands while it has soared elsewhere. Since 2008, production on public lands is down more than 19 percent."

Technology

Gary Shapiro, CEO, Consumer Technology Association
"Washington can make immediate progress (in technological innovation) in three areas of bipartisan agreement: first, passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), after the recent expansion of the Information Technology Agreement; second, with strong support for current House and Senate legislation patent reform is again well within reach to stem the $1.5 billion patent trolls drain each week from our economy; third, given the president's support for U.S. innovation, he should repeal the Department of Labor's imposition of significantly higher overtime-pay thresholds that will cripple American startups."

Linda Moore, CEO, TechNet
"(T)he president said that our nation should provide ‘every student the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one.' We couldn't agree more. Our economy demands that students have technical skills, but we're currently not doing nearly enough to prepare them for the jobs of the future. Today, only one in 10 schools across the nation offer programming classes. If we don't address this shortfall, we will put our nation at a strategic disadvantage for decades to come."

Katherine Lugar, CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association
"As an industry that is constantly innovating to improve the guest experience, we agree with Obama that there's a great need to ensure technological advancements strike a balance between privacy and security. Moreover, there should be a level playing field as newer players enter the marketplace when operating in the lodging sector. Only by working together can these critical issues be addressed in a comprehensive way."

Other issues

National Multifamily Housing Council and National Apartment Association (joint statement)
"We appreciate President Obama's commitment to growing the economy by addressing many of the vital issues that directly impact our $1.3 trillion industry and the 38 million Americans who call an apartment home. A strong housing sector requires balanced rental and homeownership housing policy. Currently, rental demand nationwide exceeds supply and key research has found that this demand is fueled by powerful demographic and household formation trends."

Richard Wilkins, board president, American Soybean Association
"The commitment of this administration to trade is something that we have appreciated at every turn, and the president's final State of the Union address this evening shows that course will continue throughout the year. We understand that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is going to be a heavy lift this year, but we are excited to continue our press to see it passed by our Congress and ratified."

Richard Schilsky, chief medical officer, American Society of Clinical Oncology
"With nearly 1.7 million people in the United States diagnosed with cancer each year, and the incidence of cancer expected to rise to 2.3 million cases per year by 2030, it is imperative that we do all we can to bring more effective treatments from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside as quickly as possible. We agree with President Obama when he asserted that ‘…we can do so much more.'"

José Baselga, president, American Association for Cancer Research
"We have indeed reached an inflection point, where the number of discoveries that are being made at such an accelerated pace are saving lives and bringing enormous hope for cancer patients, even those with advanced disease. Now is the time for a major new initiative in cancer science that supports and builds upon our basic science foundation while translating these exciting scientific discoveries into improved treatments for cancer patients, such as in the areas of genomics, precision medicine, and immuno-oncology."

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