In the heady world of Macro economics, small business owners are often overlooked as major job providers and innovators in the American economy according to the US Census Bureau.
I have watched with a wary eye for the past 6 years as tax packages for the super rich and mega corporations have dominated the political discourse and circumvented the core business community: those with 20 employees or less. This microcosm of economic stability is the mainstay...nay the foundation of the American Dream: Owning your own successful small business.
The trickle down economics of the Republican governments of 2000-2006 have largely bypassed the average working class small business owner and their employees. The wealthy have been rewarded with tax cuts, no bid contracts, Cronyism, Scandals, subsidies, incentives and mergers that have largely benefitted the captains of industry and bypassed the common man. The time for rethinking this paradigm of inequity has emerged. The practical application of technological knowledge to the many post industrial businesses of America has arrived in the form of entrepreneurial necessity and national self interest.
I'll tell you about my thoughts and experiences after a leap of faith.
8 years ago I was drawn by the endeavors of my next door neighbors as they labored in the converted upstairs of the house down the street. I was particularly fascinated with my friend's (and now business partner) ideas on EnviroFriendly technologies as adapted to one of the most polluting industries in all of business: Printing.
Cutting down acres of forests, processing paper pulp with hydrochloric acids and chlorines with accompanying leaching ponds and environmental destruction. Petroleum based inks and coatings and trillions of pieces of paper leaching these additives into landfills around the world. Film based printing plates etched and stripped of their silver and mercury images providing advertising and marketing tools to another emerging industry of post modern American technology: Graphic Design.
The revolution has been breathtaking for one such as I and I am proud yet frightened at the success of our diligent labors. We have been at the core of a quantum leap that is still evolving: the opportunity to preserve and transform our world.
I know my statements seem overblown and there is an element of grandiosity about them, but as many here reading this forum know; big things can happen from simple ideas and their practical application, to a world community at large.
We immediately purchased printing presses that ran on acid free papers. We converted direct to plate printing bypassing the film, silver/mercury processes, received digital files via the internet and bought a 40 mpg vehicle for delivery. We prototyped soy and vegetable based waterless inks for Heidelberg that swept the envirofriendly countries of Europe and beyond. We mastered VDP (variable data printing)and lead the market in personalization of high end 6 color marketing pieces for the resort industry immediately after their collapse after 9-11. And we have grown at double digit rates for 5 years now. The trade magazines have heralded the successes of digital printing and now the whole industry has turned on a dime to arrive at the concept of green papers and green printing. And to think that a hairdresser in Denver has witnessed it's evolution and been a part of the collective force.
The age of environmental technology and it's application to a troubled world is here and only the tip of the iceberg is showing. The potential for growth is so encouraging that every progressive and political activist and would be entreprenuers should take heart and courage as the robber barons gaze with their greedy eyes upon us... for profit or destruction.
However,three very important issues have emerged for small business. 1)Debt relief and debt consolidation. 2)Health care costs. 3)Capitalization for expansion.
We are the elusive manufacturing sector of the oft written about economic sector in Macro economic forecasting and reporting. Printing is one of the "pillars" of American business. It is critical that this congress and government realize that there is more to industry and manufacturing than oil,cars and war profiteering.
If the government reached out to the tens of thousands of family owned manufacturers in America... I know we could retool and reinvigorate the economic and environmental landscape of America.
1)Low interest loans and grants for manufacturers to consolidate debt and boost capital expenditures
2)Universal health care to defer the costs that are not incurred by the businesses of other industrialized nations in the world. We have lost the competitive edge in wages, pricing and soaring expenses.
3)Capitalization loans and grants for the technological equipment, raw materials and skilled labor that is needed to expand.
The red tape and bureaucratic wrangling surrouding hemp, solar, biofuels, hydrogen technology, recycling, agriculture, etc. need to be immediately and adequately addressed for the small business enterprises of America.
These measures and more will ensure the emerging green revolution for a better tomorrow for our children and for generations to come.
Namaste.