U.S. Dep. Secretary Of Commerce, Rep. Peters Hear From Small Business Owners

Press Release

Local small business owners met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Dennis Hightower, Representative Gary Peters and state officials today in Farmington Hills to discuss the future of a critical small business support program. The local small business owners, as well as representatives from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Detroit Regional Chamber also discussed the current business climate, difficulty accessing credit due to a lack of lending in Michigan, initiatives that are working to improve Michigan's economy and ideas for further job creation strategies.

For the past 20 years, the Department of Commerce's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) has provided technical and business assistance to small manufacturers, helping Michigan companies to make improvements in the short term and become more competitive in the long term. Legislation Representative Peters has authored would protect Michigan businesses ability to remain active in the highly efficient and effective program, an initiative which has spurred 57,000 more small business jobs and $10.5 billion in sales per year recently.

"This was an excellent meeting and a great opportunity to listen to small businesses on the front lines of economic recovery," said Deputy Secretary Hightower. "In this highly competitive global economy, businesses need every bit of help they can get. It is time to reinvest and refocus on the fundamentals that have always made this country great: research, innovation, and a culture of entrepreneurship that values risk taking and discovery. That's what this Administration is focused on and I'm confident that the direction we are taking is, with the help of Members of Congress like Representative Peters, going to create the environment for businesses to prosper and create jobs."

"I am very pleased that Deputy Secretary Hightower could come to Oakland County to hear directly from our local business owners," said Rep. Peters. "Southeast Michigan small businesses are facing unique challenges and it's important for policies that create an environment that allows small businesses to grow and create jobs. The businesses here are in danger of losing critical support at precisely the time they need it the most, and I believe that their fees to participate in a proven job-creation partnership must be reduced. We also need to promote small business lending and cut small business taxes to get our economy moving again."

"I think it's extremely valuable for small businesses to have our voices heard," said Doug Mack, president of Diamond Moba, a local small business. "I was glad to be able to discuss with Mr. Hightower the things that the Administration has done well to help small businesses and areas I felt they should focus next. Partnerships to help us access credit, favorable tax policies, incentives for innovation and R&D and other initiatives will create a climate in which we can create jobs. My business is grateful to participate in the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and it's good to know that Representative Peters is fighting to reduce the cost of the program for the private sector."

"These partnerships really make a difference for us and other Michigan small businesses," said Dennis Keat, CEO of the Su-Dan Corporation. "Thanks to the MEP and the business development services it provides, we were able to secure new business from another Michigan company, producing a product for them that they were formerly having made in China. Representative Peters' effort to protect this small business partnership and other pro-small business initiatives discussed today translate into real jobs in Oakland County."

Currently the federal government shares one-third of the cost of the MEP program with state governments and businesses, but many states are finding it more difficult to continue to fund their share of the cost. Peters' legislation would reduce the cost share required and ensure that willing small businesses have continued access to services provided by this job creating program. For more on Rep. Peters' legislation, click here.

Representative Peters has made supporting small businesses a top priority since first taking office last year and has fought for many pro-small business initiatives in addition to his proposal to lower MEP fees. Last year, Rep. Peters voted against his party's second stimulus bill because it had too little support for small businesses. He then proposed an alternative job creation plan to redirect Wall Street bailout funding to instead help provide loans to small businesses, a plan President Obama later embraced in his State of the Union address. He also authored a measure which passed the House that would provide zero interest loans worth up to $70,000 to small businesses in high unemployment states. He has introduced legislation with Reps. Levin and Dingell to create state-based partnerships with financial institutions to help small manufacturers access credit. He has repeatedly supported measures to provide tax cuts for small businesses as well. And last November, Peters convened a Financial Services subcommittee field hearing in Oakland County so that Members of Congress could hear directly from local small businesses, a hearing which yielded several policy proposals to help small businesses that Representative Peters submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Source