Your Views: Where is government aid to save struggling small businesses?
PrintAfter closing a local business that was failing due to fallout from GM’s closing, I have a few thoughts. Where’s the help for locally owned businesses that find themselves in trouble due to circumstances beyond their control? While going through the process of closing my business, I sought help from banks, our congressman and state agencies.
There’s no help. Paul Ryan’s office told us he wasn’t able to intervene in our legal matters. Funny, we didn’t ask you to. We asked what help is available for small business owners on the verge on failing. Your response was pitiful.
Big Business seems to thrive after failing through the many government avenues available to them. If you employ enough people and threaten to close, government will allow you to restructure and remain open. This same opportunity isn’t available to small businesses that did everything right and still failed. One could argue that help for Big Business is necessary because of the impact a large business closing would have on our economy, as opposed to the effects of one small local business closing. True enough. However, add up all of the small businesses across the country that were harmed by the downsizing of a business like GM, and the situation is devastating. Big Business gets help, the rest of us bear the brunt of this, and life goes on. Where’s the help?
I also wonder how many Rock County businesses were negatively affected by the closing of the GM plant.
GARY CERNY
Janesville