Job creators. Here's what I know about how its done, and some of it is fairly personal since I'm married to one who does it. I can claim no such distinction myself, being a one-man band plying my trade with neither the benefit nor the responsibility of having employees. But my wife, she's another story, and here it is.
Real job creators are the hundreds of thousands of small companies who employ 8-12 people full time and perhaps that many again as needed on a part-time basis, based on demand. Businesses like this are the engine of the economy, providing products and services that many of us rely on to make our lives better, more productive, and perhaps even more enjoyable. My wife has run such a business for almost 30 years, an event design and decor company with some high-end exposure to big-name clients. She's turning 60 this August, and is still at the helm. I thought we might have a discussion about her selling the business, but it turned into an exploration of the factors that keep her working even when she is tired, financially strapped, or just sick of dealing with an ever-changing, cutthroat business environment where profit is the standard by which success is measured. And while profit keeps the wheels turning, there is more to job creation than the mere retention of earnings.
We were having a glass of wine, watching the sunset from our living room. We're not rich but we live well with what we have. One of the reasons we're not richer is that she has put her employees well-being on a par with her own, both in terms of giving them a place to be creative and make a living, as well as providing them with….get this….healthcare! Her overhead is pretty high, most of it in labor costs. The margins are thin, and while she can take advantage of the business in certain ways, her income has never been more than $80K per year total compensation. She pays herself not as an owner, but as a fellow employee of the company. In other words, she puts the existence of the business and its attendant benefits for many above her personal gain. Can you imagine Bain's response to that!? I can. Cut benefits, trim staff, buy low and sell high. In other words, maximize your personal gain as an owner (shareholder value blah blah blah) and to hell with the consequences.
My wife was raised on the Colorado prairie east of the Rockies. Her family was steadfastly Republican, when than meant something different than it does today. Her father sold real-estate and did well, her mother taught school. Her work ethic is superb, puts me to shame completely. She comes by success naturally, but has never let it go to her head, nor equated it with the gain or loss realized at the end of the day. She is a job creator and preserver that puts to shame the claims of those who would make greed a god and declare that capitalism is its votary. What wealth she has, she's come by honestly, paying bills on time, following the rules, using all her resources wisely, and putting people first. If getting rich was the goal, she failed, but in that 'failure' created wealth and security for others and was just the kind of of job creator that we desperately need more of at this economic juncture.
Entrepreneurs like my wife make things happen, for themselves and for others. They need a level playing field and a fighting chance. She cannot rely on familial wealth or angel investors interested in tripling their investment. She needs to grind it out a yard at at time, and in so doing creates jobs, supports financial (medical) security, and insures that people keep working. Compare that with Romney's record and tell me who the real job creators are. Greed may be good, but it doesn't create lasting, secure and meaningful work for anyone but investors and management consultants (if you call what they do 'working').
I salute her. She has more integrity in her little finger than all the business bloviators I've ever met, and I've met a few in my travels in Corporate America. The next time some idiot on Fox or CNBC pontificates about job creation, remember this: job creation is not about tax policy, or fiscal restraint, or regulatory excess, its about recognizing the interdependence of an economic system and balancing people and profits in the process of adding value. Greed may be good, but it won't create lasting, secure and meaningful jobs. In the end what matters is effort/energy and a commitment to being fair even when the pressure is on to do otherwise. Hell of a woman, my wife. A real 'job creator.'