Small Business Owners’ Questions to the White House

On September 29th, 2010, OPEN Forum hosted a live Q&A with Marie Johns, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, posing questions submitted by small business owners on such topics as the small business jobs and credit bill, healthcare reform, and stimulus opportunities.

Please add your thoughts and questions below; your insights may be considered for future content on OPEN Forum.

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8 Responses

DADELAND ANIMAL HOSP

President
(Sep 28, 2010)
My additional questions from AMEX open forum for the present administration are: Mr. President - how do you plan on protecting small businesses with less than 50 employees from extinction? We cannot attract quality employees when faced with competition from larger companies that offer benefits. Nor can we afford to shoulder the burden of expense for healthcare in this economic cycle. What will happen to the mom and pop stores of the past?
CLEAR IMPROVEMENT

President
(Sep 29, 2010)
My job/work is supporting the improvement of process and product quality for both government and commercial organizations. It is based on a set of industry standards/models for quality that the DoD and federal government funded, but now the DoD and other government agencies are relaxing their requirements for contractors to adhere to these standards (such as the CMMI). With this relaxation, my work and our industry is drying up. Why is the government, after spending all this money, letting quality slide?
Anita Campbell

Founder
(Sep 29, 2010)
Hello Administrator Mills,

Thank you very much for holding this Q&A session. It is so important to listen to business owners directly, and your willingness to participate says a lot about you.

My question for you is: Loans are all well and good -- and for those who need them, the SBA's programs can be a lifeline. But many small businesses like mine don't need or even want loans -- we're working hard to grow our business organically and focus on our customers. But regulatory burdens and higher taxes interfere with our growth. We need a strong compelling voice to represent our interests before Congress, to prevent nightmares like the recent expansion of the 1099 filing requirements. How much advocating on behalf of small businesses is the SBA doing – and please give us some specific examples.

- Anita Campbell, CEO of Small Business Trends
Parris Lucas

http://www.linkedin.com/in/parrislucas

Fractional Strategic Executive:…
(Sep 29, 2010)
Will the SBA put in a review process so that express loans can be considered on the 3C’s rather the computer models such as FICO scores?
Derrick L. Wilson

http://www.linkedin.com/in/derricklwilson

Entrepreneur
(Sep 29, 2010)
Thank you. The recent credit card legislation passed only applies to personal accounts, not business accounts. Since most small businesses are owned by one person only, when will we benefit from the new laws? We can least afford continuing to live under the current credit card rules.