The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, today released its first video reiterating its “Virginia Small Business Recovery Plan” as first announced by NFIB last week. You can find that announcement here. Today’s video, as told by Tina Miller, owner of Walkabout Outfitter, with 6 locations in Virginia.

Miller talks about some of NFIB’s four legislative principles, which include tax relief sensible regulations, financial assistance and unemployment insurance reform.

“Small businesses are huge in the economy. “If we continue to do regulations as well as taxation that hurt small businesses and we go out of business that ends up being jobs. In our case, somewhere between 30 and 40 people would lose their jobs. The best thing for the community is to keep jobs because jobs are what makes our communities thrive.

We will never be the same after what happened in COVID. It has affected us both emotionally as well as our business. There is a lot of times were like –  ‘do we just throw in the towel? But we kept plowing away. We went ourselves 10 months without getting paid,” said Miller.

Watch the new Small Business Survival: In Their Own Words video featuring Tina Miller here: https://vimeo.com/668807941/505774a913.

NFIB’s legislative principles include: 

• Tax relief. The legislature must provide tax relief for small businesses so they can recover faster, keep and hire employees, and bolster their communities. 
• Sensible regulations. Small business owners are urging lawmakers to repeal onerous regulations and mandates and when appropriate replace them with reasonable policies that don’t interfere with their ability to own, operate, and grow their businesses. 
• Financial assistance. NFIB members support near- and longer-term financial assistance programs for employers with continuing financial needs including rising health care costs.
• Unemployment insurance reform. The pandemic stretched Virginia’s unemployment system to its breaking point. It’s essential that the General Assembly pass meaningful unemployment reform and ensure that small businesses aren’t held liable for fraudulent payments or overpayments.