NFIB

Leadership Council Chair Sells Antiques, Stays Current on Issues
05/06/2002

NFIB/Tennessee Leadership Council Chair Bill Merry, Jr. grew up in a small business family. Throughout high school and college he spent many hours working in his father's business, Herndon and Merry, Inc., a custom architectural metalwork design and installation company. After receiving his marketing degree from Tennessee Tech, he then spent 10 years away from the family business, but as he explains, "Through the pleadings of my father and two brothers, I came back."

The four of them are still in business together at Herndon and Merry, Inc., and like most successful long-term small businesses, they have had to adapt to the changing times.

Herndon and Merry started out catering to a middle class market, manufacturing and installing burglar bars, doors and carport covers. But once cheaper, mass-produced versions of the products started flooding the market, they found their profit margins drying up. So they switched the focus of their business to the high-end market, and turned their attention to making driveway gates, interior railings and balconies.

Whereas Merry said that only a half dozen of their competitors advertised beyond their location, the company also started advertising nationally. They have reaped the benefits of this move, with their customer base beyond their local marketplace increasing steadily each year. They have won over 30 national design awards and continue to grow.

The success of Herndon and Merry has even allowed them to open a second business, Garden Park Antiques, featuring decorative home and garden antiques in a 4,000-foot showroom.

Merry has somehow been able to couple the demands of running two small businesses with NFIB activism. He'd been a member of the leadership council for eight years before becoming chair. He has also written for the Nashville Business Journal on NFIB summits, and makes it his number one priority to write letters and visit lawmakers as often as possible to keep them up on the issues he and his fellow small businesspeople face. He is confident it is worth the effort.

"They feel the heat, and they do listen," he says.

Quick Facts:
Name: Bill Merry, Jr.
Business: Herndon & Merry, Inc.; Garden Park Antiques by Herndon & Merry
Number of employees: 24
NFIB member since: early 1970s

Why did you become involved with NFIB?
It gave me a great avenue to find out what the issues were, and access to legislators on the local and national levels. I really believe in NFIB, as opposed to other business organizations that decide what stance to take on issues based on their board meetings.

What is your number one legislative concern on the state level?
Taxes. Right now, there's a lot of talk about increasing the sales tax and the possibility of a state income tax, so we're watching that. Right behind that is TennCare, which continues to be a big drain on the state budget.

What is your number one concern on the national level?
The permanent repeal of the death tax, especially now that the Senate is scheduled to vote on it in June. Number two is the continuing reduction of marginal tax rates. That one's important to everybody, but especially to my clientele, it would mean tens of thousands of dollars that they'd have freed up to spend. Reagan called the reduction of the marginal tax rate trickle down economics, but to us it looks like a waterfall.

Why do you like being a small business owner?
I like having the freedom to make a go at it. I like to tell people it's like playing Monopoly with real money. And I like playing Monopoly.

Honestly, I don't see myself doing anything else. I'd like to be a racecar driver someday, but that's a different career.