Pol will testify about small business issues at Senate Field Hearing.
On Friday morning, NFIB member Lana Pol will testify in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship during a field hearing in Des Moines. At the Iowa Events Center at 10:30 am, Lana will address U.S. Senators, including Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, about small business issues and the challenges small business owners face. Lana will also talk about how elected officials can help small business owners by shaping federal policy. This isn’t Lana’s first time testifying in front of lawmakers. During a U.S. House Committee on the Budget earlier this year, the Pella native spoke about how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act positively impacted her small businesses. Here’s Lana’s story.
Serial Entrepreneur. That’s how Lana describes her father, the man who with a 6th-grade education, founded the now successful business that has sprouted into five family-owned companies. Lana hopes to pass her father’s legacy on to the third and fourth generations of her family, however, it’s something she worries about – and is counting on NFIB to help.
“If it’s worth doing it’s worth doing right.”
Lana’s father Wayne started Geetings, Inc. after owning a gas station, landfill, and pool hall. In 1972, he started a trucking company that quickly expanded. Just three years later the family added a warehouse. Wayne’s four children took over the businesses after his death in 1993, but recently Lana made some changes. She not only bought out her three brothers but added three more companies to her family’s portfolio. Lana’s 95-year-old mom, Jennie, came to the office regularly until her recent death.
“I love getting up in the morning with a purpose. The challenges can be overwhelming but so can life.”
Seeing a need in her small Iowa community, Lana started a business selling mowers and cutting lawns. She expanded to spas a few years later and most recently, she and her daughter Tiffany founded a company that makes promotional boxes for other businesses. From pens to sunglasses and embroidered polos, the pair have nearly doubled their sales every year for the past three years.
“Solving new challenges and being adaptive to our customers gives us a sense of worth.”
Lana also feels a sense of worth providing her community with good-paying jobs. Last year, she was able to give her employees up to a $4,000 raise thanks to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Lana feels that investing in her employees is important not only to her local economy, but it helps her keep those valuable employees. The labor market in Iowa is tight and Lana fears if can’t provide competitive wages, she’ll lose out. The tax cuts also helped Lana invest more than $2 million in her businesses, adding more warehouse space and six new semi-trucks.
However, Lana fears the rising cost of health care and unnecessary government regulations will make it more difficult to transition her businesses to the next generation of her family. She’s counting on NFIB to help voice her concerns.
