NFIB California Podcasts

Discussing the issues that matter most to small-business owners

Thanks to generous support from Five Star Bank and the California Tax and Budget Research Project, NFIB is taking the small-business message to the growing medium of podcasts. Each podcast runs for around 30 minutes and features experts in their field discussing the latest developments with NFIB California State Director John Kabateck and NFIB California’s chief legislative advocate, Tim Taylor.

More podcasts are being planned and all of them will be collected in this web story for easy access and retrieval. They are also available on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple podcast, Google podcast, Spotify, and iHeart, by searching for ‘NFIB California.’

Check out the ones below by clicking on the title that will provide more information about the subject and a link to the podcast itself.

2023 Podcasts

November 28—NFIB California Podcast: Post-Pandemic Lessons. A conversation with Five Star Bank President and CEO James Beckwith.

October 25—NFIB California Podcast: Meet the CEO Who Fired his HR Department. Christopher Belle of Tri Tool Technologies there’s a better way get the best out of employees.

September 28—NFIB California Podcast: A New Dynamic for Education and the Workforce. Kevin Dobson of the Capital College & Career Academy, and Ken Wenham, president of Roebbelen Contracting, discuss the changes under way.

August 29—NFIB California Podcast: Don’t Go It Alone! Small business experts Heather Luzzi of the SBA and Scott Rogalski of the SBDC discuss the myriad avenues of free financial and consulting help available to both established and budding entrepreneurs.

August 16—NFIB California Podcast: Businesses Need Not Apply Here. Beth and Marshall Booth describe dealing with the California Coastal Commission.

June 28—NFIB California Podcast: Retail Crime is Rampant Because Society is Willing To Accept It. Former Sheriff John McGinnis discusses what it will take to change.

June 6—NFIB California Podcast: A Conversation with Sen. Angelique Ashby. There’s more comity in the upper chamber of the Legislature than meets the eye.

May 18—NFIB California Podcast: Carol Roth Discusses the Assaults on Small Businesses. The issues we see today were driven by decisions related to COVID.

March 23—NFIB California Podcast: A Conversation with Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones. The state’s problems are of its own making.

March 8—NFIB California Podcast: Can the State Ever Again be a Place Where Small Businesses Thrive? Serial entrepreneur and successful immigrant Sunder Ramani talks causes and cures for what ails California with NFIB’s chief legislative advocate Tim Taylor.

2022 Podcasts

December 15—NFIB California Podcast: New Laws Taking Effect in 2023.Labor and employment attorney Ben Ebbink discusses four of the more important ones for small businesses.

December 9—NFIB California Podcast: Bank Leader Discusses Possible Recession, Homelessness. James Beckwith, president and CEO of Five Star Bank, talks about the new economic climate facing small businesses.

November 17—NFIB California Podcast: Making the Purchase of Health Insurance Simple and Affordable. Kristen Berthiaume, Bryan Coppin, and David McClintock of CaliforniaChoice discuss taking a big worry off of the minds of small-business owners.

November 1—NFIB California Podcast: Proposition 30 Does Affect Small Businesses. Matt Rodriguez of the No on 30 campaign argues that despite what proponents claim, the ballot initiative will harm Main Street enterprises.

October 13—NFIB California Podcast: The Venture Capital Fund Helping the Smaller Entrepreneurs. Kwame Anku, founder and CEO of Black Star Fund, discusses his life lessons and experiences leading a business startup that has helped make successes of other business startups.

September 15—NFIB California Podcast: Where the Future of Commercial Construction in California Lies. Tim Murphy, president and CEO of the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange, says getting younger people to consider careers in the trades is the top priority.

June 27—NFIB California Podcast: Women in Business Leadership. Three stories of success.

June 7—NFIB California Podcast: Going Solar is About Controlling Your Own Destiny. Duane Knickerbocker, an HVAC and solar expert, makes the case for everyone’s energy independence.

April 8—NFIB California Podcast: Lower Gas Prices and a Greener Future are Not Mutually Exclusive Energy expert Catherine Reheis-Boyd on what California does to hurt itself and what it needs to do if it wants to deliver on its climate goals.

February 18—NFIB California Podcast: Small Business at the Center of Legal Cases, Agency Battles. Karen Harned, executive director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center, said it’s considered a big influencer at the U.S. Supreme Court.

February 16—NFIB California Podcast: What You Need to Know About the new COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Law. Labor and employment expert Ben Ebbink discusses some of the details employers should be aware of.

January 26—NFIB California Podcast: Assembly Member Jordan Cunningham Explains Why Single-Payer Health Care is the Wrong Prescription. Assembly Bill 1400 is unneeded, unaffordable, and unworkable.

2021 Podcasts

December 20—NFIB California Podcast: Small Business Legal, Research Leaders Look Back at Pandemic, Ahead to 2022. Elizabeth Milito of the NFIB Legal Center and Holly Wade of the NFIB Research Center discuss a very challenging time.

December 14—NFIB California Podcast: How One Small-Business Owner is Surviving the Pandemic. Darrell Feil of Bakersfield-based Abate-A-Weed talks about adaptability and teamwork.

November 19—NFIB California Podcast: Dealing with Supply Chain Disruptions. Paul Cramer, vice president of Star Milling, talks about how his family-owned business is coping with the problem.

November 1—NFIB California Podcast: Tips for Small Business Lease Negotiations. Interview with special guest Ken Noack, senior managing director for Newmark Commercial Real Estate, and one of the state’s most respected land and retail specialists.

October 19—NFIB California Podcast–New Laws for 2022 Small Business Owners Need to Know. Guest Ben Ebbink, a labor and employment expert, highlights eight laws of importance affecting Main Street.

August 23—NFIB California Podcast with James Beckwith of Five Star Bank. President and CEO looks back at the PPP loan process and ahead to the new ways of doing business.

July 20—NFIB California Podcast with Assembly Member Suzette Valladares. “There are issues crushing the middle-class, so I ought to do something about it.”

May 25—NFIB California Podcast with Tara Lynn Gray. The new director for the California Office of Small Business Advocate discusses the resources available to small-business owners and takes a post-pandemic look ahead.

April 29, 2021—Assembly Member James Ramos Discusses his Small-Business Past. One of the California Legislature’s most experienced lawmakers on Main Street issues is the special guest of an NFIB California podcast.

April 15, 2021—Governor’s Top Business Aide on NFIB California Podcast. Dee Dee Myers gives small-business owners the latest information on re-opening, vaccinations, grant money, and whether there will be tax increases.

2020 Podcasts

December 1—Top Political Consultant Gives His Analysis of the Election and What’s Ahead. A conversation with Tom Ross, co-founder of Meridian Pacific, which helped engineer the defeat of Proposition 15.

November 12—Two New Labor Laws Taking Effect January 1 with special guest attorney Ben Ebbink, an employment and labor law expert.

October 23—Preparing for Battle on Extending the Sales Tax to Services with special guest Anthony Pugliese, president and CEO of the California Society of CPAs.

October 18—Veteran Political Observer Shares Her Insights on the November Ballot Propositions with special guest Marva Diaz, an editor of the nonpartisan Target Book.

September 28—NFIB Podcast Takes Aim at Proposition 15 with special guest Rex Hime, president of the California Business Properties Association.

September 23—NFIB California Launches Podcast Series, a discussion about PPP loans with special guest James Beckwith, president and CEO of Five Star Bank.