SALEM, Ore., October 24, 2014—Oregon’s largest small-business association named Sen. Larry George its 2014 Outstanding Legislator of the Year at its Legacy Awards event in Turner, October 17.
Year after year State Sen. Larry George (District 13 – Sherwood) has evolved and successfully navigated important legislation through the Legislature on behalf of Oregon’s small business entrepreneurs. Owning several businesses himself, both in-state and internationally, he understands what it takes to keep the doors open for a small-business owner and has personally signed the bottom of many a paycheck. He knows firsthand the hardship of stifling regulation and burdensome taxes.
In 2013 Senator George worked with a bi-partisan group to successfully craft and pass the first small-business tax reduction legislation in decades. Small-business owners will reap the rewards of his work for generations.
“If this wasn’t reason enough,” said Jan Meekcoms, Oregon state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, “during the 2013-2014 legislative sessions, he scored 100 percent on his voting record in support of legislation meaningful to small businesses. He was the only legislator of the 90 lawmakers in Oregon’s legislature to do so. He truly exemplifies what it means to be the NFIB’s Small Business Guardian and Outstanding Legislator for 2013-2014.”
NFIB has 350,000 dues-paying members across the nation, including more than 7,200 in Oregon.
Small business is no small matter for the economic future of the state, reports the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration. “They represent 97.6 percent of all employers and employ 55.5 percent of the private-sector labor force. Small businesses are crucial to the fiscal condition of the state and numbered 344,722 in 2010 … Most of Oregon’s small businesses … have fewer than 20 employees.”
Brief, single-pages of bulleted information on the power of the small-business vote, what a small business is and the distinctions it has from a big business can be found here.
[Photo below courtesy of Luna Bug Photography]
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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. NFIB’s educational mission is to remind policymakers that small businesses are not smaller versions of bigger businesses; they have very different challenges and priorities.
National Federation of Independent Business/Oregon
3340 Commercial St. S.E. Suite 210
Salem, OR 97302
503-364-4450
