04/24/2002
Small business must be vigilant and watchful for its own interests, because while government may intend to help, its one-size-fits-all policies can be extremely harmful to small business, says Vienna photography studio owner T.R. Cook."Small business needs protection from federal mandates. We don't need the same kind of regulation as a larger business. Even if government intends for a rule to be common sense, the implementation often gets very dictatorial," Cook says.
Through his involvement with NFIB and the NFIB/Virginia Leadership Council, Cook has been able to represent small business interests to lawmakers, showing them how important it is to think about the effects on small business when they consider legislation. "We make it a habit to keep communications open with our congressional and state delegations," he says.
NFIB members' communication and political involvement translate into a powerful presence come election time, Cook says. "On the state level we have a lot of candidates that support small business that count on NFIB for small business information and endorsements from NFIB. When you get to where your endorsement is as important as your money, you've got some power," he says. "NFIB has a lot of respect in the state level."
Cook first got involved with NFIB when he was traveling the state in the mid-1980s, working on the state-level meetings for the White House Small Business Conference. "I used to travel and stop at little restaurants all across the state," Cook says. "I saw that they all had NFIB stickers in their windows or at the cash register. I asked what it was about. It was absolutely amazing to see what was going on in Washington, what NFIB was doing. I thought I should be involved, too."
He continues his activism today. Now NFIB is creating area action councils -- local groups of small business owners who can meet about issues that affect them. Cook will be president of the just-forming Northern Virginia Action Council.
"We want to expand our contact with political leaders, and expand our membership too. It will give us an opportunity to meet other small business owners," he says.
Quick Facts:
Name: Cook's Photo-Art Studio
Founded: 1965
Location: Vienna, Va.
Number of employees: 4
What services does your business provide?
We have one of the finest photographic studios in northern Virginia. We make photos, we do photo restoration, weddings, portraits. We even have an artist who paints for us.
When did you know what you wanted to do in life?
When I was 11 years old. When I was a kid, it seemed like the American way to have your own business. We haven't had a commercial studio all that time. I've worked with photography for years -- I was director of audio/visual services for a government department before I had my own business, but I've had the studio since 1965.
When I was with the government, I ran my office like a business. Everything was competitive. We had a bottom line and got more production for less money. It was anti-government, really. But we proved that it could be done.
What small business issues are important to you?
I'm always interested in taxes. They are a big thing in northern Virginia.
Also, one of the things that we are always fighting here is to keep the government from soaking up all the land that is available for business properties, and then raising taxes to pay for it. At that point, everybody's going to pay more. However, it's an exciting and fast-growing area. It has been for 30 years. One of the best places in the world to be.
