Co-owner and CFO of Hammer Construction in Alabama, Linda Hammer shares how she and her husband started their company and how they spend their down time.
How did you become a small business owner and why?
I have to start with my husband, because we own this business together. He has almost always been self-employed. He was in the Navy. He received training in the trades and specifically he was instructed in welding and other areas. When he came out of the Navy he went to work for a nuclear power plant. He wanted to move up the ladder, but he didn’t have a college degree. So, he decided to take his skillset and become his own boss. And he did. He became licensed as a plumber. And he kept adding licensing. [Eventually] he became a licensed general contractor, already had the asbestos license, the underground storage tank removal license, the plumbing license and the pipeline installation license. We took all those licensing capabilities and started government contracting and became very successful
What’s the best part of your day?
It’s being able to get up and come to work every day. We love to work. We never want to retire. We feel like we have been very blessed. Just the privilege of being able to work in this country and make jobs for other people so that they too will be blessed. I think being an entrepreneur is so rewarding in and of itself.
What makes Alabama a good place for your business?
In Alabama, taxes are lower even though Alabama does have a state income tax. We also have a governor who really wants to see growth of business in this state. We are a Right to Work state and I think that is important.
What other state-level policy issues concern you most?
There is a proposal – it’s not a bill yet – to eliminate the FICA tax deduction in the state. You get to deduct the FICA tax in Alabama that you pay at the federal level. The elimination of the deduction of the FICA tax – that’s something I would rather them not do. I would rather start seeing a fair tax across the board that impacts everyone and not just impact business and working people. I’d like to see a raise in sales tax that will impact everyone.
What do you like to do off the clock?
We really work a lot, but we also farm a little. We have a few – not many – cattle on a very small scale. We actually like to grow our own organic foods and we like to feed our cows in such a way that we are getting organic milk from them. We haven’t fed them anything that would keep us from saying, “gosh, we’re drinking organic milk.” We also have a grandchild. She’s about two years old and she is such a joy, so we spend a lot of time.
