THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412070421
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Not too many people can say they've watched life pass from the seat of a dump truck like Myrick Faircloth.
But Faircloth, the owner of Penrick Corp. Hauling and Contracting in Virginia Beach, a five-employee company, found others who share his preoccupation of running a small business.
More than 400 Virginians met at the Cavalier Hotel on Tuesday in Virginia Beach for the state meeting of the White House Conference on Small Business, an umbrella organization that sets up grassroots meetings in each state.
Like Faircloth, participants came to share ideas, learn how to improve business and recommend legislation for the national meeting of small-business delegates in June 1995.
``Sometimes people are making decisions based on their perceptions of small businesses . . . when they've never been part of a small business,'' Faircloth said of federal officials. ``This body doesn't make assumptions. They allow us to take our issues to the White House.''
Owners of Virginian companies with 500 employees or fewer met in small brainstorming groups, proposed pertinent issues and solutions, and voted on the most important ones to recommend at the national meeting. They spoke with the conviction that comesfrom providing 65 percent of net new jobs from 1976 to 1990, according to the the Small Business Administration's advocacy office.
``Everyone did a good job of venting their frustration, but in the end they came together to make decisions on issues,'' said Bob McGee, who moderated a discussion session on sources of funding or investment for small companies. Some recommendations from previous conferences in 1980 and 1986 have became law.
At the national convention in Washington, Virginia's recommendations will be discussed with those from other state conferences. The most pressing concerns will be recommended for legislation to the White House.
Almost 200 small-business people competed for 26 spots on the state delegation to the national convention.
``This really shows that the small-business community in this state is very strong,'' said Peggy Zone Fisher, a commissioner on the White House Conference. Many of the issues raised at the Virginia conference resembled the issues raised at other state conferences because the concerns of small-business owners transcend regional differences, she said.
``You put your whole livelihood on the line,'' said Fisher, who owns a travel agency in Cleveland.
Pat Green, a Roanoke businessman who sells products and insurance to auto dealers in four states, attended the conference because he's concerned about small business in America.
He said that he can't get a line of credit from banks even though he has been in business for 19 years.
``We can't get it anymore because banks have closed us down,'' he said to nods of agreement at one of the discussion groups.
Faircloth, who wants to buy more dump trucks to add to his fleet of five, learned Tuesday about a low-documentation loan of up to $100,000 available through the Small Business Administration.
``If you're like most small-business owners, you're investing your life savings into something you think will work and you need to grab anything you can,'' he said. ``It's really putting your neck out there, but I wouldn't even entertain the thought if the business wasn't there. The business is there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
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