We are Main Street’s Bailout

According to the group America United, last week was “Shop Small Business Week.” While I think that focusing our attention on supporting small businesses is great, imagine how we could turn the tide of our economy if we focused that same attention on supporting small businesses all year.

On Friday, I spent the evening in Racine at their First Friday event, celebrating local merchants on the first Friday of each month. Kenosha celebrates the same with their monthly Second Saturday events. These are prime opportunities for the community to come together and put our money where our mouths are, and financially support local businesses.

Small businesses make up 98% of Wisconsin’s employers, and represent 52% of the private-sector jobs here. But how often do we head to a big-box store instead of finding a locally-owned store? I try to spend my money locally, at farmers’ markets for produce and other items, at local restaurants instead of chains and keeping my money in town when purchasing gifts for friends and families. (Ok, ok, my wife Cornelia does most of the gift buying for us).

I held a roundtable this past week with some small business owners in the Racine area, to talk about the challenges they face, and what they would like to see their representative in Congress do to help.  We talked about the struggles in working with the different government agencies and the difficulties, even in these tough economic times, in finding qualified employees. We also talked about the problems in accessing needed capital to expand and grow their businesses.

Federally-guaranteed small business loans in Wisconsin’s 1st CD decreased by 37% from 2008 (the start of the Wall Street recession) to 2009, and are predicted to be down 6% in 2012, compared to 2011. Without these loans, business growth is stunted and our economic recovery slows. What was clear to me after our small business roundtable and other discussions with business owners around the district is that we need someone who understands the business climate and what businesses need to grow. 

As a former small business owner myself, I understand exactly what these and other small business owners are going through. Businesses need help in this economy, there is no doubt about that. As consumers, we can help by supporting our local companies. And our elected officials can help our businesses by supporting policies to end the massive tax giveaways to large, profitable corporations that restrict their ability to support America’s small business growth. 

We must be the ones to take the first steps toward reviving our economy. Large corporations get bailouts from our government, but we are the bailout for Main Street. And we must remember that all year, not just for night or one week. 

As your representative, part of my job will be to listen to you, but I don’t want to wait. Please share your ideas on how we can support small businesses and recharge our economy in the comments below.