Schneider Tells Small Businesses They "Drive the Economy'

News Article

By Linda Blaser

U.S. Congressman Brad Schneider (10th-Deerfield) told small business owners they hold the key to the country's continued global economic success.

"Small companies will lead the way," Schneider said at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Lake Forest Club on Friday, Nov. 22.

To do that, Schneider said the country needs to continue to invest in people, technology and ideas to meet the No. 1 priorities in the country -- the economy and growth in high-quality 21st Century jobs.

"If we do that, we'll continue to maintain our lead and we'll continue to see the growth of small businesses that are 90 percent of the entities in the country, 65 percent of the new jobs created in the economy and 55 percent of our entire labor force," Schneider said.

The lunch drew some 100 guests from six local Chambers representing 10 communities. The Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce and the Chambers of Highland Park; Green Oaks, Libertyville, Mundelein and Vernon Hills; Greater Lincolnshire; North Chicago; and Waukegan.

In his first term in Congress, Schneider -- a former business owner -- was appointed to the Small Business Committee, an assignment he requested.

"Too often small businesses don't have much of a voice in Congress," he said.

In order to be that voice, Schneider said he started a "Brad At Your Business" outreach program and has visited more than 40 district companies to understand their operations, how they work and what their employees and managers face.

"Eighty percent of the businesses I visit say, "We have a hard time finding people with the skills we need to do the jobs we have,'" Schneider said.

As a result, Schneider last year introduced his first bill, the America Works Act, to make sure the students school produce have the skills companies need to fill the gaps and allow them to grow.

Last week, he introduced The Learn Act, which will allow companies to bring in new workers, give them on-the-job training and allow them to get the skills they need to grow.

"I know from my experience of having owned and run businesses that your job as managers, as much as anything else, besides managing people and marshalling resources, is managing risk," Schneider said. "You have risk of markets, risk of competitors, new product risks and technology risks."

What today's businesses don't need is the current political risk, he said.

"Uncertainty generated by gridlock in Washington is making it hard to make decisions here at home," Schneider said.

He pointed to the recent government shutdown that came at an estimated $24 billion cost to the U.S. economy.

"We cannot have another shutdown," he said. "It is reckless, it is irresponsible and it creates an uncertainty that makes your job managing your businesses that much more difficult."

Schneider said he's looking for a way to address gridlock and allow the economy to grow through investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, education and people.

"We need to invest in the roads, the electrical grids, the manufacturing infrastructure that will allow us to expand and compete on a global basis," he said.

Likewise, the local, state and federal governments need to promote manufacturing as a career and to give incentives to companies to invest in research and development, invent products, make those products here and ship them around the world.

"That's how we continue to grow our economy," he said.

Schneider also pointed to immigration reform and a workable health care system as necessary steps to furthering the economy.

Disappointed with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in October, Schneider said fixing it is necessary.

"If we don't address our health care, where we're spending one-and-a-half to two times more per person in this country than other developed nations with no better health care, we're not going to be able to stay competitive no matter how much we invest in infrastructure, in R&D, in education," he said. "We need to have a system that provides us with the full breadth so that we can compete on a global scale."

In a submitted question, Mark Williams of Williams Ski and Patio in Highland Park asked for an update on the Marketplace Fairness Act in Congress.

The Act would allow states to require online and other out-of-state retailers to collect sales and use tax, which supporters believe will level the playing field for brick-and-mortar and online stores.

"There are advantages to brick-and-mortar, there are advantages to being an online store -- that's competition in the marketplace," Schneider said. "There shouldn't be distortion in that system that the tax system puts one seller at an advantage or disadvantage to another."

Schneider said he supports the bill, particularly since the 10th District is comprised of small towns reliant upon the success of their local businesses.

"Those small towns thrive when their downtowns thrive," he said. "It's the small businesses that drive the economy."

Source