Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 7, 1994 TAG: 9404070160
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Small businesses are at the center of the debate over the Clinton Administration's attempts to reform the country's health care system. Among other things, an increase in the per-pack tax on cigarettes would cut into an item that is a magnet at many small, independently owned convenience stores.
So small businesses must be unifying, studying and mobilizing to lobby the government to protect their interests in Washington, right? Not exactly.
"Most small businesses out there aren't that tuned in with what's going on with health care," says John Jennings, director of the Small Business Development Center in Roanoke. "They're interested in it, but most are too involved running their business day-to-day to really be involved in health care."
Small businesses, in other words, are too busy trying to stay in business. And though they infrequently receive much media attention, small businesses were responsible for softening the impact of the most recent recession; as Fortune 500 companies laid off workers, small businesses provided the diversity needed to keep much of the workforce afloat.
In the Roanoke Valley, for instance, when First Union Corp. took over Dominion Bankshares and laid off 850 workers, the unemployment rate barely jumped.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chairman William Marcil pointed out this often unseen economic diversity in March on a stop in Roanoke. Ninety-six percent of the U.S. Chamber's members employ fewer than 100 people, and 70 percent employ fewer than 10 people.
Running a small business has never been easy, but today independent operators seem to have their livelihood increasingly threatened by what Jennings calls the "Wal-Mart phenomenon." Though he points out the Arkansas-based mega-retailer is hardly the only national chain threatening small businesses.
"When Blockbuster came to town it changed the whole scene for probably 30 independent video stores that were scattered around the valley," Jennings said. "What used to be fertile ground is now flooded with people offering the same product."
Jennings puts the "Wal-Mart phenomenon" under his marketing category when listing the three biggest issues facing small businesses this year. The other two: a financial squeeze brought about partly by increased banking regulations after the savings and loan crisis; a bureaucratic burden due to the complicated nature of dealing with tougher workers compensation laws and insurance requirements.
"Slowly but surely the access to capital through banks has been tightening up," Jennings said. "Even though the economy is growing again, that tightness remains."
Cynthia M. Shelor, president of John T. Morgan Sheet Metal Co. Inc., is heading a committee put together by the Small Business Development Center to develop a focus for their pitch at a White House Small Business Conference next year.
Though they have just begun working on an outline, their top issue is the education and training of workers. Shelor said many contractors have a difficult time finding employees when, for instance, the main qualification is a clean driving record.
"We have a real hard time even getting people," she said. "It seems like the state should be able to work better with the employment commission to meet the needs of area businesses."
The committee's preliminary outline also focuses on: health care, taxation and innovation and technology.
The 13 small business representatives on the committee want to form subcommittees to bring in a broader base of area businesses to work on the issues. The committee hopes to host a small business conference in the Roanoke Valley, which would serve as an introduction to a Virginia small business conference later this year and the national conference next year.
Shelor said the group is looking for volunteers to work on the committees. People can contact the Small Business Development Center or the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.
by CNB