Tag: Small business

Quote of the Day: Will Small Business Survive?

Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn
16101477
 

“I have run two small businesses in Kansas, and I have seen how government can crush entrepreneurism. That’s why I ran for Congress. It just so happens that there are a lot of people in south central Kansas who agree with me on that.” — Mike Pompeo

My initial reaction to Secretary Pompeo’s quotation is that he was not your average legislator. He actually knew something about running a business:

As a businessman, Pompeo is perhaps best known for co-founding Thayer Aerospace with some of his classmates from West Point. A specialized aircraft machinery manufacturer based in Kansas, Thayer expanded through investments from venture capital groups including Koch Venture Capital, a fund run by billionaire investors Charles and David Koch. . .

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JobMakers #47

Roger Magalhaes Goes from Truck Driver to Industry Leader

00
Hosted by Denzil Mohammed
With guest Roger Magalhaes

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Roger Magalhaes, immigrant from Brazil and founder of the firms Shades in Place window treatment installation and Trading Up Consulting, in Franklin, Massachusetts. They discuss how Roger built his successful business from the ground up, took advantage of every opportunity here in the U.S. to advance, and became one of the most influential leaders in his field. He’s even now training his competitors. Roger is also the 2022 Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Awardee for Business Growth, an annual honor bestowed by The Immigrant Learning Center, co-producer of this podcast. Now an American citizen, Roger shares his belief that immigrants must “Americanize” in order to fulfil their potential and have the biggest impact, a debatable view but one rooted in his own experience and success, as you’ll hear more about in this week’s JobMakers.

Guest:

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JobMakers #39

Gaetan Kashala Gives Immigrants a Leg Up

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Hosted by Denzil Mohammed
With guest Gaetan Kashala

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Gaetan Kashala, immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, co-founder of Globex Corporate, a consulting firm connecting the U.S. to Central and Western African businesses and governments, and also the engagement director for AIM, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts. Gaetan has built a career helping immigrant and other minority small business owners in the Bay State by giving them the opportunity for a crack at the American Dream. And he’s seen the results: thriving businesses, growing families and community development. He shares their stories and his own, of a legacy built by his father in Cambridge, in this week’s JobMakers.

Guest

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More Small Business Closings Ahead?

Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn
189
 

Today we went to our local gun shop/shooting range to finally get in some practice; we’d already had to cancel one trip when we both got sick. We were greeted with a barrier across their driveway stating that they had to temporarily close due to the “flu,” and were too short-staffed. I was disappointed that they weren’t open, but mostly concerned that the two men who run the shop, John and Walter, might be ill, and we are especially fond of John. They don’t have a large staff to begin with.

We all know how devastating the business closures were in many states due to mandates, fears, and precautions. This time, however, there’s a new threat for small businesses: small numbers of staff who come down with the coronavirus and flu.

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Biden Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Clifford A. Brown
Clifford A. Brown
2318
 

justice and COVID-19In a stage whisper. When both MSN and FoxNews comment on Biden’s strange whispering into the microphone at a press conference, it is noteworthy. Biden literally said the quiet part out loud about government hostility to small business. Let’s go to the official transcript from the June 24 remarks on the infrastructure deal.

Remember you were asking me — and I’m not being critical of you all; I really mean this.  It was legitimate questions you were asking me — asking me, “Well, you know, guess what?  Employers can’t find workers.”  [stage whisper] I said, “Yeah.  Pay them more.”  [/stage whisper] This is an employee’s — employee’s bargaining chip now what’s happening.  They’re going to have to compete and start playing [sic] hardworking people a decent wage.

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The Ricochet Podcast #550

We Bring Good Things to Life

1710
Hosted by James Lileks & Rob Long
With guests Carol Roth, Ted Mann & Thomas Gryta

We’re rollin’ in the dough this week with a double dip of interesting business talk.

First up are Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann of The Wall Street Journal who look at the rise and fall of one of America’s iconic companies. In Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric, Gryta and Mann lay out the consequences that came from believing in the mythology GE created for itself.

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JobMakers #13

Umesh Bhuju Seeks a Fair Deal for Immigrants, Farmers & the Environment

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Hosted by Denzil Mohammed
With guest Umesh Bhuju

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Umesh Bhuju, owner of Zumi’s Espresso in Ipswich, Massachusetts, about how a business model based on selling nothing but fair-trade products can thrive in a world driven by profit. He describes his early experiences in his homeland of Nepal, where he witnessed child labor, and how that has shaped his pursuit of the American dream. Over the past 20 years, through his successful business, he’s been educating Americans about just how far their dollar can go – paying farmers respectable wages, reducing environmental impact, and supporting developing economies; as well as how businesses can catalyze social progress. In this episode, Umesh shares how he has extended his activism to fighting for the rights of immigrants, preserving local habitats, and combatting food insecurity during the pandemic, even as his own business has battled the downturn.

Guest:

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JobMakers #11

Jitka Borowick on Starting a Small Business during COVID

01
Hosted by Denzil Mohammed
With guest Jitka Borowick

This week on JobMakers, Guest Host Jo Napolitano talks with Jitka Borowick, Founder & CEO of Cleangreen, a cleaning service committed to environmentally-friendly practices, and Nove Yoga, launched during COVID. Jitka grew up under communism in the Czech Republic. Determined to learn English, she made her way to the U.S., initially with plans to stay for only one year – but ended up making it her home. In this episode, they discuss the difficulties of learning another language and culture, her pathway to entrepreneurship, and her courageous decision to open a new business during a pandemic. Jitka shares insights on how her companies have successfully adapted to the challenges so many small businesses have encountered over the past year.

Guest:

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Operation Floral Chef: Pizza, Banana Bread, & a Side of Pollen

OmegaPaladin
OmegaPaladin
89
 

I had heard that Saturday was going to be the worst day for deliveries, and the weather certainly lived up to that. Blowing snow and biting cold is a pain to drive in, and harsh on flowers. We need to warm up the van and make sure all the flowers were well wrapped, or we would not live up to our reputation for quality. Everyone knows you can get poor quality flowers at Walmart for cheap – we can only compete via quality. You could say the invisible hand is holding the bouquet…

Previous installment here and here.

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Member Post

Clifford A. Brown
Clifford A. Brown
47
 

Mesa, Arizona, has long been slightly small business hostile, with thickets of ordinances and regulations slowing business openings. Yet, they, and Lord Governor Ducey, seem to have sensed a limit to the local citizenry’s acceptance of the heavy hand of government. That, or they see the economic rocks towards which the ship of state is […]
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Federalist Radio Hour

Chef: COVID Lockdowns Are ‘Class Warfare’ Against Small, Local Businesses

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Hosted by Ben Domenech
With guest Chef Andrew Gruel

On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Chef Andrew Gruel joins Host Ben Domenech to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry and the struggle for small businesses to get back on their feet.

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Dispatch from Washington State: Doubling Down on Failure

RushBabe49
RushBabe49
97
 

Here are some news items from the State of Washington and the City of Seattle; please note that the state and city are run by Leftists through and through.

First, items relating to the pandemic.  Two weeks ago, our Dictator closed all state restaurants for inside dining, closed gyms, and reduced capacity allowed at all indoor retail establishments, including grocery stores for a 4-week period.  This was a response to “surging coronavirus cases” in the state.  Please also note that the Dictator is issuing these rules from his desk, with no input from the elected state legislature.

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Hub Wonk #26

Small Business Life Support: Policy Relief for Firms Sickened by COVID?

01
Hosted by Joe Selvaggi

Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Andrew Mikula and Retailers Association of Massachusetts’ Jon Hurst about the state of small business in Massachusetts six months into the pandemic. They discuss the observations and recommendations of Pioneer’s new report, “The Long View: A Public Policy Roadmap for Saving Small Businesses During the COVID-19 Recovery Period.”

Interview Guest

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Member Post

Clifford A. Brown
Clifford A. Brown
23
 

Federal law creates a mass of minor observances, honoring this group and that cause, all through the year. Current events and religions create additional overlays of important dates, noted by the president of the United States in his official capacity. There is an element of boilerplate, of consistent wording framing annual observances across administrations. Look […]
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Member Post

Nostalgic Present
Nostalgic Present
118
 

It’s unfair and tragic so many businesses are forced to remain closed and have to lay off employees. It’s terrible so many business owners are seeing their life’s work go down in flames they can’t control. Now. That said. Many small businesses suck and the big companies do better. IDK about you but I’m not […]
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Ricochet COVID Symposium: “Essential” in the Ghost World

SkipSul
SkipSul
1512
 

An empty mall parking lot

My business is essential, at least according to DoD guidelines – our customers build the trucks your cable, power, cell phone, and sundry other utility and delivery companies use to make staying at home a bit less awful. In many respects you could say this shutdown passed us by: you cannot do manufacturing at home, engineers are next to useless after a few weeks if they lack for hardware to test, while everyone else has been needed to answer the phones, place orders, receive goods, and ship. We only had 2 people working from home during the entirety of the shutdown, and 1 person on reduced hours because daycares were basically shut. But our industrial park was otherwise a ghost town tucked behind a ghostly strip mall, with ghostly commuters on drives to work and home again.

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Faces of “Non-Essential” Workers, and a Real “Public Health” Perspective

Clifford A. Brown
Clifford A. Brown
38
 

The White House web and social media team is whip-sharp. A day after the event with small businesses we get highlight videos out on the lawn. Even the images over the video titles paint a picture of America beyond the Beltway and the cultural capitals; just look at the line-up of the newest videos on the White House YouTube channel. We see the leader of the nation’s oldest public health service, the original federal force to stop infectious disease from entering and spreading through our port towns and cities. He, for the first time, provides inconvenient truth about the lethal side effects of the prescribed “public health” response to the pandemic. So, you get expert and human story arguments for reopening America as quickly and fully as possible.

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M-1: Until The Last Bloom

OmegaPaladin
OmegaPaladin
36
 

Previous Entries in Operation Bloom:  M-4 M-3 M-2

Something not widely known is that most florists do not deliver on Mother’s Day itself.  This includes the shop I am working at — even the Steel Rose needs a day of rest.  This means today is the big day.

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A Second Proper Presidential Farewell and Send-Off

Clifford A. Brown
Clifford A. Brown
88
 

President Trump has twice now given a formal farewell to a senior member of his administration. You will recall the White House farewell for Ambassador Nikki Haley. On Friday, President Trump held another side-by-side sit-down farewell and exit interview. This time it was Small Business Administration Administrator Linda McMahon.

The Linda McMahon ceremony was held at Mar-a-Lago. As with Ambassador Haley, Administrator McMahon sat side-by-side with President Trump. Instead of two chairs, they both sat on a couch, the upholstery in both settings being similar.

The President praised Linda McMahon and indicated she was leaving her post to take up a role in “the reelection.” He then conducted a sort of exit interview in front of the cameras, starting out “I’d like to know what has been your highlight, and what are some of the great things you’ve done, just so they all know [gestured to the press camaras], so that we can put it right on the record [smiles into the press camaras].” Linda McMahon, like Nikki Haley, was warmly appreciative of the opportunity to serve and proud of her service.

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