Naples Daily News - Small Businesses Discuss Problems with Rep. Mack

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Naples Daily News - Small Businesses Discuss Problems with Rep. Mack

Written by: Jessica Cosden

Pam's Motor City in Fort Myers faces a serious problem: Car manufacturers are withholding important information pertinent to repairs and maintenance, literally forcing car owners to go to dealerships and leaving mom and pop shops in the cold.

Pam Oakes would love to see the Right to Repair Act succeed, and on Tuesday she aired her concern to U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, face-to-face in a small roundtable gathering at Florida Gulf Coast University's Small Business Development Center. He visited the center to put his thumb on the pulse of Southwest Florida's small-business community.

"(The customers') hands are tied," said Oakes. "They're stuck with the dealer."

Mack promised to look further into the Right to Repair Act, which is being pushed both federally and in several states including Florida.

While Oakes' concern was unique in a room of small-business owners ranging from print shops to wine retail, her struggles as a small-business owner were not. And those struggles need to be addressed, because according to the Small Business Administration, 98 percent of businesses in Southwest Florida are small businesses.

Tammie Nemecek with the Economic Development Council of Collier County, which has a partnership with the development center at FGCU, said before the meeting that the biggest issue to face those small-business owners is the cost of keeping afloat.

Indeed, the most-discussed issue at the roundtable discussion was business owners' inability to afford health insurance for their employees.

During the dialogue, Mack said that writing letters to lawmakers is more effective than people may think. "They do get read," said Mack, who added that he keeps tallies on the most important issues with his constituents.

On the widespread economic slowdown, Mack offered reassurance. "That is going to change," he said.

After the meeting, Mack said he was glad to hear what people had to say. "It was a great opportunity for dialogue about what's happening with small businesses in Southwest Florida," he said.

"Some of the issues we've been talking about for a while, like transportation and health care," but others were new to him, such as the wine seller who complained that federal regulations keep him from shipping wine out of state.

"I knew there was a big issue with people trying to get wine from California to Florida, but going the other way I hadn't heard that before," Mack said. "That's interesting."

Mack said that he would definitely come back for another round of discussion at the round table.

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