Economic Summit Should Spur Action to Improve Climate for Small Business

CONTACT: Bill Vernon (617) 482-1327 or Jason Brewer (202) 406-4435

BOSTON, October 27, 2009 – Bill Vernon, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business/Massachusetts, today commented on what he hopes policymakers will focus on following the conclusion of the Massachusetts Economic Summit.    

“To truly jumpstart our economy and create jobs, we’ve got to lower the crushing cost of doing business in Massachusetts, especially for small business,” Vernon said.  “The rising cost of healthcare, the tax burden and a myriad of Massachusetts-only regulations make our state one of the least friendly in the nation to entrepreneurs and job providers.”

Vernon pointed out that while statistics show two out of every three new jobs are traditionally created by small business, much of the economic policy coming from Beacon Hill is focused on luring large companies with giant incentives and special tax breaks.  

“Luring large companies to Massachusetts is not a bad thing, but it’s not a long-term strategy for sustainable growth and job creation,” Vernon said. “We need to be attracting the jobs of the future by making Massachusetts a more competitive environment for new ideas and start-ups.”  

Since 2001, only a handful of Midwest states hard hit by the automotive crisis have had worse job creation numbers than Massachusetts.

“We need to be attracting the small company that will have thousands of employees five to ten years from now—right now, our high costs and abundance of red tape are scaring those future giants to other states.” 

Vernon said he hopes participants in today’s summit will leave focused on tackling the high cost of doing business in the state, starting with healthcare.

“Small business owners are still waiting for the lower costs they were promised from healthcare reform,” Vernon said.  “Delivering on the promise of healthcare reform would be a tremendous first step toward making Massachusetts more affordable, and it would send a strong signal to small employers that their needs are finally being addressed.”