NFIB

Pell City Small Business Runs With Precision
06/17/2002

After 21 years on the road, Mike Fricker put the brakes on his career in the trucking industry and embarked upon a new life as a small business owner.

With the help of his son, Fricker started Executive Advertising in 1990. The duo originally specialized in promotional products, but soon expanded to screen-printing onto textiles. In 1999, they merged the two businesses and Precision Group, Inc., was born. Today, the company produces everything from political and real estate signs to tee shirts and advertising specialty products.

Fricker -- who calls himself a "jack of all trades" -- tackles politics with the same enthusiasm and common sense he uses to run his business. As vice chairman of Alabama's NFIB Leadership Council, he advocates fewer regulations for small business.

"Sometimes the rules that small business has to play by simply don't make sense," he says. "In Alabama we have to maintain a license and pay sales tax in every single city that we do business in. This means extra paperwork and a lot of wasted time."

With the help of NFIB, Fricker is proposing legislation that would allow businesses like his to remit taxes to a single source for distribution among the appropriate cities. "That's the kind of change that can really affect my business," he says. "NFIB is making a difference."

Quick Facts:
Name: Precision Group, Inc.
Location: Pell City, Ala.
Year Founded: 1990
Number of employees: 5

What services does your business provide?
We're in the screen-printing business. We handle the printing of everything from political signs to tee shirts.

Is this a family business?
Yes. My son started the business with me and now serves as president while I'm general manager.

How did you get into this business?
I spent 21 years in the trucking business. I traveled all over the country and finally decided that I wanted to be closer to home. A couple of years after my son graduated high school, the two of us decided to pursue our dream of opening our own business. We initially started an advertising specialty business. In 1999 we combined the two companies, forming Precision Group.

Why did you join NFIB?
I had heard about NFIB through a friend who shared some of their publications with me. I completed a survey that was featured in one of them. Soon after that, I received a phone call from the Alabama NFIB office asking me to become a member. I've been active ever since.

How have you been involved in grassroots activism?
I serve on Alabama's NFIB Leadership Council and work with about 35 other small business owners to determine which issues are most important to us. We identify candidates we think are good for small business and network in our own communities to help them get elected. We also work behind the scenes to help pass or defeat legislation that affects our livelihoods. I have a good relationship with my elected officials, and we're all very good about e-mailing or contacting them when something important is at stake.

What are your top legislative concerns?
We have a lot of problems with frivolous lawsuits in Alabama, so I would say that tort reform is my number one issue on the state level. We've come a long way in the past year. Out of the 12 pieces of legislation we supported last year, three or four of them passed. We're making progress, but we've still got a long way to go to protect small business in this state. On the federal level, I think we have to work to abolish the death tax on a permanent basis.

Why do you like being a small business owner?
I enjoy having the opportunity to be more innovative than big companies, and having the freedom to develop new products. I also appreciate the fact that in small business if you win, you win for yourself. And if you lose, you lose for yourself. It's all on your shoulders, and I think that makes you work a little harder and move a little faster.