Small Business Day in Albany
by Kathy O'Keefe

This March, I had the privilege of attending Small Business Day in Albany, and I must say it was a wake up call for me. I knew that the business climate was difficult in Western NY but I did not have a clear picture of the multi-layered bureaucracy that is in part responsible for the “STATE” of New York. Being committed to being a positive impact on my surroundings, I have always believed that the power of the people can be a great resource for change, but what I saw in Albany made me keenly aware that even an informed voter, could never decipher what is really going on in this State. We have many people with great knowledge, passion, and vision, you can see that in the Unshackle Upstate proposal designed by the Chambers, but the truth is there is no one listening at all! The simple fact is, when the largest growth in jobs are civil service, it is overhead – not job growth. These are Tax eating jobs! Here’s an idea, how about our State Government getting out the businesses they have no business being in and contracting out to private businesses who specialize in their field by supporting business growth not overhead. Oh, but that would mean no micromanaging!

Cowboy politics is pervasive. The self-serving, shoot from the hip, attitude that elected or appointed officials do not have to listen to the taxpayer, whether it is a business owner or property owner, is at epidemic proportion in New York.

Skip Bird Flu we need a vaccine for Pork Flu!

The first example, The Walmart Bill. Businesses lobby to hold on to the industry we have here, and our State government decides to try to tack on three more dollars to the minimum wage to force business owners carry health insurance on each employee. That is $5700 per year per employee. But they have no plan to administer this new program or what kind of coverage they would get for their money. Would they get Cadillac Medicaid coverage which costs approximately $8000 per person not per household or the same coverage I have as a business owner with minimal hospitalization. Here’s an idea, how about cutting the coverage on those who don’t work to the minimal coverage and rewarding those who do with better coverage.

The second example is business owners lobbying for cut rates on energy that we produce here! State Government's response to that? Lets take watts set aside for economic development of Western New York downstate and sell them for programs in New York City. Final answer, Western New York loses out on a Germany-based plant for Niagara Falls, which would have added around 100 new jobs, because they cannot supply the electricity needed for the plant.

What did I learn from all this? I learned that you must make the time to go to the source of our struggle and not be afraid to call them on it. When the people serving us can’t run the biggest business that we depend on to continue doing business, why do we continue to vote them in? They are going to keep trying to red tape or tax us until they put us out of business. We all need to start to change, even if its uncomfortable, because if we don’t we’ll be lucky to have change in our pocket. So take a stand, know your candidates and make sure they know you.