Editor's Note

If small businesses survive, it's not because of lame government gimmicks
WINDHAM
2/5/2010

By Joshua Shea

As I've mentioned here before, one of the drawbacks to being a publisher/editor is that every politician or candidate feels the need to let you know what they're doing and thinking at all times. My inbox is inundated with schedules, appearance notices, reactions to laws, reactions when people die, reactions when their opposition does anything, and of course, reaction to everything the President says or does.

Right now, anybody who has ever had their name on a ballot, or is planning to, is commenting about potential stimulus to the economy by helping small businesses. Well, Gary Plummer, Mark Bryant, Bill Diamond, Chellie Pingree, Mike Michaud, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Barack Obama, everyone running for governor, both political parties PR flacks and anybody else who is willing to listen, I'd like to share my opinion, as somebody running a small business and as somebody whose business is dependent on the health of other small businesses.

One of the big initiatives on the table is a $5,000 tax credit for every new employee I hire in 2010. If I had the money to hire new employees I wouldn't need a tax credit. You're going to give me $5,000 to entice me to spend $30,000? What if I don't have the $30,000? And when do I see this credit? In a year? I think I speak for a lot of small business owners when I say a year can be a lifetime.

When you're in the hospital, sick with pneumonia, it doesn't matter if a nurse comes and says, ''I'll give you $100 to run a marathon.'' You simply can't do it...and if you try, you'll probably only make things worse. Yeah, I'd like a $5,000 credit, but I can't afford it.

The unemployment rate isn't dropping. Instead of focusing on hiring new people, why don't you focus on not laying employees off? Once companies in this country stabilize and are able to start hiring, that's when little nudges like this tax credit are something that struggling businesses can think about.

The other ''we're going to fix everything'' proposal is to dump $30 billion back into community banks for them to extend credit and loans to small businesses.

What forces these banks to lend the money? Banks are still reeling from the bad economy. What actually compels them to put every cent of this money to small businesses and not simply use the money to cover recent losses?

I'd also specifically like the names of these banks and I'd like to specifically know how this money will loosen the very tight criteria they hold over credit to small businesses now. Do I now fall under the criteria for Bank A, but still don't meet it for for Bank B? What if I don't meet it for banks A, B, C and D, but do meet it for Bank E? By the time banks A through D have rejected me, I may not spend the time to visit Bank E.

This brings up another point that the bureaucrats don't seem to get. I don't have days at a time to be searching for loans, credit or grants. I don't have the dozens of hours it will take to get with my bookkeeper and accountant and fill out pages and pages of forms. Between interviewing employees for all of these new jobs I can't afford to offer and filling out credit and loan applications -- when I have no idea if I'll qualify -- when do I have time to run my small business?

You want to fix things? You want things to succeed? You want my vote? Then come talk to small business owners. There are ebbs and flows in the yearly business cycle that unless you're at that business, you don't understand. There are issues with taxes, insurance, etc. that you probably have never even considered. Your proposals show a lack of understanding of what small business people are forced to go through, and a lack of understanding shows that there is a lack of communication. You all like to talk and you all like to claim you listen, but I really think you're just patiently waiting for your turn to talk again.

You want real solutions? Get rid of the payroll tax for the rest of the year. Cover our workers' comp for a year. Instead of offering ''tax credits'' for doing something we can't afford, offer us ''bonus checks'' or ''incentive grants'' for doing the things right that we can currently afford. You give me $5,000 now and I'll reinvest it into the business -- since I'm the one who knows how -- and there won't be any need for your gimmicky credits down the road that most of us aren't going to qualify for anyway. And whenever possible, become our customers. If all of you politicians and politician wannabes want me to utilize more than 0.001 percent of the spam you put in my inbox, buy advertising space in the paper and print your opinions there. And pay your bill on time.