Page 14 - Marketing Times v1

“Frankly, our job is never done. It would be very easy to slip backwards into a tax-and-spend business model that overburdens our businesses. Legislation hits the Capital every month that is detrimental to our future – we need to be there, assess it, get the word out to our members and the legislature, and provide results.”
—Rob Fowler Small Business Association of Michigan President and CEO
LANSING, MICHIGAN
The Advocate
Small Business Association of Michigan
BY DAVE MOORE
TCMT sat down with Rob Fowler, President and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM), to learn more about the association’s success in advocating for Michigan’s small businesses.
TCMT: Tell us about SBAM’s role as the voice for small business.
Rob: We provide the voice that the Michigan legislature needed for small businesses to
be treated fairly, and for Michigan to remain competitive on the national and worldwide stage. We measure, report, and take action
on critical issues for small businesses. And, since small businesses are the most proli c job creators, our entire mission supports the fabric and economic well-being of all Michiganders.
TCMT: Small businesses are the greatest job creators?
Rob: Yes, that is thoroughly proven. “Stage Two” companies, as de ned by the Edward Lowe Foundation (Cassopolis, Michigan), employ between six and 100 employees. These companies provide the most employment growth, not just in Michigan but nationwide, and they need a voice. We are that voice. Also, we’ve worked with the governor and the legislature
to encourage a policy of “economic gardening.”
TCMT: Economic gardening?
Rob: Yes. Take some of the money we’d
invest in hunting big corporations and drawing them to our state with tax incentives, and instead utilize this to help our job creators, the
“Stage Two” companies, to grow. Reduce their tax burden by eliminating the Single Business Tax, which our governor and legislature did during his very rst year. Now, we’ve eliminated the punitive Personal Property Tax, which required our small businesses to pay a tax on their equipment and assets every year. So,
we measure the success of small business. Michigan’s “Entrepreneurial Climate” has increased from 41st nationally in 2008 to 6th in 2014 (MiQuest Entrepreneurship Scorecard).
TCMT: Is it working?
Rob: Absolutely. And the world is taking
notice. For example, Indiana used to have billboards on the border of Michigan advertising their more friendly business climate and taxation policies. They have since realized the positive momentum of the business climate in Michigan and moved the billboards to the Illinois border instead. We are competitive and relevant on
the worldwide stage again.
TCMT: Why is this meaningful to us in Northwest Michigan?
Rob: It is more meaningful, here, than just about anywhere in the state. With a couple
of exceptions, most employers here are “Stage Two” companies, not Fortune 100 or even
14 Traverse City Marketing Times • Fall 2014
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