Link: http://www.nsba.org

One of my favorite movies is the old Jimmy Stewart classic - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  Well, this week I got a taste of what Mr. Smith got to experience.

June 2- 5, small business leaders from around the country came together at the National Small Business Association (NSBA) Washigton Presentation. 

NSBA is ASBA’s partner in Washington and I have the honor of serving as a member of their board of trustees,  While most of ASBA’s work is done in our home state of Arizona, NSBA’s team represents us in the nation’s capitol, fighting for all of us on key issues including healthcare, taxation, access to capital, and small business procurement contracts.

Tuesday morning we discussed not only status and issues but also a powerful message - Small Business - 70 Million Strong and Voting!

Why is the message so important - you can look at it this way.  For every pair of workers in the US, one is either a small business owner or works in a small business.  We are the largest single work group in  the country, and one of the least represented on the national stage.  We don’t have big T.V. budgets, millions of dollars to invest in lobbyists to champion our cause, rich PAC’s to influence candidates, or a seat that the President’s Cabinet table.  We are simply hard working, tax paying Americans doing what we do best - building businesses and quietly supporting the economy in good times and bad.

Small Business is the major economic and innovative force in our country.  That is the message I took with me to Washington.  In my visits to the offices of Congressman Mitchell, Senator McCain, and Senator Kyl’s I brought them messages from home as well as copies of BizAZ Magazine and the 2007 Arizona Companies to Watch Profiles.  We shared information on what ASBA is doing to make a difference on key issues like healthcare and workforce development.

My visit was not one of demand, but one of reminders.  Sharing the stories of our Arizona small businesses and the challenges they face on the healthcare front, how they are dealing with the obstacles created due to lack of action on immigration reform, and offering hope in the form of the innovative activities occuring in our state and at ASBA.  Washington is not solving these challenges - so Arizonans are stepping into the breach and taking action.

If there was a major disappointment from my visits, it was in hearing what I expected to hear.  On these important issues - nothing much will happen before next year.  Washington will soon be consumed with the election process at the state and presidental level. We’ll have to wait for help from Washington.  So it is still up to us to keep taking care of business at home, continuing to work out our challenges the way we have up untl now - by justing taking care of business on our own.  After all - that is what small business does best.

On May 7, 2007, I had the opportunity to speak before the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and to share my concerns over recent "sweeps" by the Maricopa County Sherriff’s Office.   While sound bites from the press conference following the meeting have appeared in the media, they never tell the whole story.  There just is never enough time on the nighly news.

So, here is the official transcript I read from in the meeting - please tell me what you think.

Joan Koerber-Walker, Chief Executive Officer, Arizona Small Business Association

May 7, 2008 - Transcript of Statement to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

Andy Kunasek – Chairman, Fulton Brock (Absent), Don Stapley, Max Wilson, Mary Rose Wilcox

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to come before you today on behalf of the citizens and small business owners in our community. As CEO of the Arizona Small Business Association, my role is to lead a statewide organization that supports the growth of businesses in our community. Twenty three hundred of these companies make Maricopa County their home with the support of over 200,000 Arizona employees.

First, I wish to commend and thank the MCSO and all public safety agencies across our state for their efforts in law enforcement and in building a strong and vibrant community where our businesses and our employees can prosper. You put your passion to work for us and your lives on the line – we appreciate you.

My purpose here today is not to interpret our state or federal laws. We are a nation of laws, and our laws must be respected. If some laws need to be corrected, we are lucky to live in a land where that can happen.

I come before you to express concern – not over enforcement of our laws, but rather the manner of enforcement which been employed by the MCSO in recent weeks and to highlight current and potential unintended consequences to our businesses, our citizens, and our community.

Recent enforcement actions, termed "MCSO Sweeps" in the media have portrayed para-military operations targeted at areas within our community that are highly populated by citizens of Hispanic descent. These actions have appeared on the national news, the worldwide web, and in our local media. The result:

The reputation and image of our community as a pace where businesses can begin, come to, flourish, and grow – is being supplanted by visions of police action, social unrest, and lack of cohesion between our leaders at the county and city level.

Out of fear or simply to avoid potential involvement, some of our citizens – who are also customers of small businesses – avoid these parts of our community. In an already challenging economy, loss of custom means loss of business, and ultimately, as we are already seeing, the potential for our community to lose some of these businesses permanently and with them the jobs they provide to our citizens.

Lastly, these highly publicized, community targeted actions are drawing together crowds of individuals. Many are frustrated, angry, or fearful and reside on both sides of the issue. This combination could easily escalate into violence creating a threat to our officers, our citizens, and to small businesses in the area. Some of which may never recover.

In conclusion, it is not our intention or desire to impede the efforts of law enforcement, to disregard the importance of our laws or to interpret them. I am simply asking that you review the current process, consider both the intended and unintended consequences, and offer counsel to the MCSO.

Thank you.