Longtime small business member, NFIB President, and NFIB Sales Trainer discuss NFIB’s history and relevance today
To help celebrate NFIB’s 80th year, the Small Business Rundown featured a longtime small business member along with NFIB President Brad Close and NFIB Trainer Randy Karschner. They told the story of NFIB’s founding and shared NFIB’s victories throughout the past 80 years.
“It’s NFIB’s members that make us so strong and so unique,” said Brad Close, NFIB President. “One of the great things about NFIB is we have actual members. Small business owners from all backgrounds in all industries all over the country. It’s our small business owners that make us strong.”
NFIB was founded in 1943 by C. Wilson Harder as the National Federation of Small Business. Harder saw the need for an organization that truly represented the interests of small businesses.
“[Wilson Harder] grew up in a small business family…,” said Karschner. “As an employee of the Chamber of Commerce he found himself a bit disgruntled at the Chamber because, on several occasions, he watched small business concerns put on the backburner while they catered to big business desires. Wilson dreamed of an organization that would only be concerned with small business issues.”
NFIB has changed a lot over the past 80 years, but there are some key moments throughout its history that Close noted:
- The creation of a full-time state government affairs team.
- Creating the Small Business Legal Center in 2000 to fight for small businesses in state, local, and federal courts.
- The Research Center’s economic survey, which looks at how small business owners feel about the economy.
“After 80 years, we still as an organization believe in the core principles that Wilson set up,” explains Karschner. “One, we’re member-driven because no position is taken without the vote of our membership. Second, each member only gets one vote. Third, no member can exceed the maximum annual dues. Finally, we’re a nonpartisan organization.”
NFIB continues to grow its membership because small business owners see the value of having such a strong voice in state capitals and Washington D.C.. Small business owner and longtime member Robert Lycke Jr. was interviewed for the podcast about his experience as an NFIB member and why he chooses to renew his membership each year.
“Kuker-Ranken started in 1928. I remember when I walked in for the first time in 1977 that the NFIB sign was on the door,” said Lycke. “…Today it is now 79 years that we’ve been a member of NFIB. It has been a wonderful relationship… An NFIB rep came in and introduced me to the NFIB membership. That’s pretty much when I got involved in NFIB and recognized that we do have a voice as small businesses.”
The voice of small business has been amplified over the last 80 years by NFIB’s advocacy efforts. Close pointed to a few of NFIB’s biggest federal victories in recent history.
- NFIB v. Sebelius Supreme Court challenge to Obamacare that led to repealing healthcare-related taxes.
- NFIB v. OSHA challenge on vaccine orders.
- NFIB led the charge to create the 20% Small Business Deduction.
“We ballot our members a couple of times every year on key issues coming before Congress; we ballot them on key issues coming before their state legislatures,” explained Close. “This is how we set policy. We don’t sit around Washington D.C. and decide what’s good for small business. Our members tell us, and then we go fight for them.”
NFIB members have always been at the forefront of everything NFIB does. Small businesses are the backbone of the economy and deserve to have their voice heard by lawmakers when deciding on regulations and legislation that will impact Main Street.
“The value in my membership is that I truly do get a voice on what happens in the legislature,” said Lycke. “It’s something that most people don’t quite understand. They may donate to NFIB, but they don’t participate in it. By participating, your voice gets heard, and your vote counts when it comes to bad regulations and bad bills.”
NFIB’s full history is documented by a timeline and video at NFIB.com/80years. The full podcast episode is available to download for a more in-depth look at NFIB’s history and goals for the future.
