NFIB

Pittman Delivers Small Business Message
07/02/2002

Harold Pittman spent 22 years working in a corporate bakery business and when he got to the top of the ladder, found that it wasn't what he had expected. So he decided to buy his own distribution business, found a Tom's for sale in Charleston, W. Va., and hit the road. And so Pittman Snax Sales was born.

Pittman started out with three routes and three employees. Now he has 14 routes and 21 employees, and not only provides delivery of wholesale snack foods to supermarkets and convenience stores, but also runs a full vending service as well.

Though the move proved successful, it initially wasn't easy. His wife, a teacher, had to finish out the school year in Kentucky, so she and Pittman's two children didn't join him until nearly a year later. His family has been active in the business since they left Kentucky all those years ago.

"My daughter Lanita went to work when we started the business. She ran the first vending route," Pittman says. "My son Eddie came to work for me after he finished college in 1986. He's now our general manager. Both of them have been a very big part of our success. They've done whatever's necessary to see everything through."

Like many other family business owners, Pittman plans to pass his company on to his children.

"If they can keep building on what we have made so far, that would make me happy," he says.

However, Pittman realizes that passing his business on to the next generation faces a potential major hurdle: the sunsetting of the current estate tax repeal.

"The death tax is a major concern," Pittman says. "A lot of people think it's a done deal, but it's not. In 2010, we're going to be back where we were a year ago. If a family continues a business after the owner passes away, there should be no taxes. Nothing has changed, you've just lost an employee."

Pittman believes that the death tax and other small business hurdles can be cleared -- but only if enough small business owners make their voices heard.

"It's very hard to get small businesses out when you need their support. West Virginia has a lot of anti-business rules and regulations, and I don't think that anything's going to be done about them until the small businesses get out there and say that something's got to be done."

Quick Facts:
Name: Harold Pittman
Business: Pittman Snax Sales, Inc.
Number of employees: 21
NFIB member: 19 years

Why did you join NFIB?
I joined in 1983, when a gentleman came by my warehouse to tell me about the organization. I remembered as a kid growing up in Alexandria, Tenn., my grandfather always had his NFIB card on the cash register in his shoe shop. He told me that this is the only thing that represents small business. In any small business, you wear so many different hats. You don't have much time to go out and lobby or work with legislators, so NFIB was one way for me to get involved.

How did you become involved in NFIB grassroots activism?
The state had a small business day at the legislature and state director John Hodges invited me up. I saw that if small businesses don't speak up and let the powers that be know our problems, then they're not going to do anything about them. I've been the chair of the leadership council for about five years.

What is your number one legislative concern on the state level?
I'm afraid the state is going to raise business taxes, which could really slow down small business growth. We've seen property taxes in the last five years quadruple. We've see county taxes go higher. Now the cities want to pass additional taxes. Our businesses are taxed enough. The only way we're going to be heard is to get together behind NFIB.

You try to compete against the big businesses, but when you get down to it, it's very, very hard. The state and local governments give tax breaks to the large corporations, they get the employees, and the small businesses go under. The state needs to start giving small businesses the incentives, not the Wal-Marts.

What is your number one legislative concern on the federal level?
I think the biggest thing facing small businesses is having affordable health insurance for employees. We take care of the employees, but if they want to add their family, say a wife and two children, they have to pay $150 a week. And I've talked to insurance executives that are expecting to have a 20-25 percent increase this year. Not being able to offer health insurance keeps small businesses from getting qualified people.

Why do you like being a small business owner?
It is great to be able to take something, put it together and make it work. I just bought a company in Kentucky from a gentleman who went in and things just didn't get put together.

When I started my business I ran routes, stocked warehouses, swept floors, did a little bit of everything. The only difference between him and me was he didn't do those things. He hired managers. You can't do that as a small business. So, I would say that taking things that haven't done well and making them work is the biggest thing I enjoy about my business.