NFIB

Soldier Turned Business Owner Works to Protect Kansas Small Businesses
05/30/2003

Major Ross Markle was an Army aviator stationed at Fort Leavenworth when he retired with 22.5 years of service. That's when he began his second career, as a small business owner.

"I just put the word out," Markle says. "My wife and I decided we wanted to stay here in Kansas after I retired, so I went to a meeting of the local Lions Club and let people know that I was looking for an existing business to buy. That night, I received a phone call and became a businessman about two months later."

Markle had bought Harris Brothers Cleaners, a century-old drycleaning business with one location and 10 employees. Today, that original plant supports four additional locations, and the staff has grown to 28 employees. Markle remembers his first day on the job, 22 years ago.

"The morning after we closed the deal, I found out the drycleaner had already given his 2-week notice. He had gotten a job at another local business, and he was leaving in a week," Markle says. "That changed my plans real fast. I was scheduled to attend an industry-sponsored technical course for drycleaning operators, but I couldn't. Someone had to run the drycleaning department until I could find a replacement. Fortunately, the former drycleaner and I became good friends, and he came by early each morning and late in the afternoon to help me get through that critical period. Before that, I had never been in the back of a drycleaning plant."

Markle learned a great deal from his former employee, but he also found other sources of information and support for his newly acquired small business: the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and the International Fabricare Institute (IFI). He joined both his first year in business.

"I'm a big believer in professional associations, because you can learn a lot from them. While IFI provided me with technical support through courses on the drycleaning industry, NFIB put me in contact with other business owners who shared their business expertise and our joint concern with government regulations."

It was a call from Hal Hudson, the Kansas State Director for NFIB, which began Markle's leadership role in the organization. Hudson invited Markle to serve on the NFIB Kansas Leadership Council, a group of concerned small business owners who would help lead the charge to protect small businesses in Kansas. Markle served as chairman of the council for a time and is still an active member today.

In 1996, Markle helped lead a group of Kansas drycleaners to push legislation that would clean up drycleaning waste that was legally disposed of but targeted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). During that campaign, Markle's association with NFIB and Hal Hudson really paid off.

"Hal served as a valuable source of information at the state level for myself and the other drycleaners involved," said Markle. "Once our bill was passed and implemented (and long after our paid lobbyist was gone), Hal continued to provide a protective watch over the resulting regulation. He still keeps us informed about new legislative proposals. Because of him, drycleaners and small business owners across our state are aware and informed."

"Hal was our eyes and ears at the state capital when we were working to get that passed. He still is," Markle says. "With the financial crisis the state's been facing these last two years, legislators have tried to sweep our fund into the general fund. But Hal told us about it so we could stop them. He helps us keep an eye on things."

These days, Markle is especially grateful to have someone else watching the state legislature, since he's busy keeping his business going in a tough economy.

"Business has been down anywhere from 10 to 20 percent -- which is tough when you're as small as we are. And it's hard to cut costs, since most of our production specialists are only one deep. If you eliminate a position, you eliminate a service. So you just do the best you can."