Dashboard: John Arensmeyer on What Business Owners Need Now

[Music] welcome to another 21 hats dashboard brought to you by our sponsor the great game of business I'm Lauren felin I'm here with John arensmeyer who is founder and CEO of small business majority and advocacy group for businesses and entrepreneurs welcome back John good to be here Lauren always good to have you I appreciate you taking the time uh John last week uh Joe Biden gave his State of the Union Address I know you lobbied the White House in anticipation of the speech did you hear what you wanted to hear uh we heard certain things we wanted to hear um glad that the president really focused on the fact we do have a robust economy um just um just today I think the report came out that 275,000 new jobs were created last month um that's not to say there aren't uh struggles still facing small businesses inflation hasn't come down as far as we'd like and continue to be issues of access to Capital but um I think we are and and we we uh see this with the small business owners that U part of our system um it's things have really improved theyve stabilized and um you know way better than I think any economists or anyone predicted um I can touch on a couple of the points that he made that relate to um to uh the work we care about if you're if you're interested absolutely please that's why we love to have you here yeah no he talked a lot about the uh programs that um you know the legislation that he and Congress worked on the last Congress um particularly around procurement um there's obviously a lot of Contracting opportunities due to the inflation reduction act the bipartisan infrastructure act the chips act and um you know there's opportunities for small business in all of these uh and um you know part of the problem is making sure small businesses understand where to go how to get connected into this money uh the SBA has a training program known as a 7j training program that really helps small businesses figure out where to go we we urge small businesses to um to go to their site and and get more information so you know he talked generally about the the the money out there for all of this you know all of this work that's being done and um obviously we're concerned that I want to make sure small businesses tap into that um the other area that he focused on um that we care about is healthc care and you know he did make the point that we've been making we need to continue to extend the subsidies for U purchasing Healthcare on the exchanges um more than half of the participants in the exchanges are either small business owners employees or self-employed people and we just saw a record sign up uh recently um for the exchanges of over uh 20 million um signups so um this is It's essential that we keep this momentum going and we keep those subsidies in place and the other thing he talked about was um then you know look cost is still a huge issue uh in the Health Care system and so he wants to expand the ability to uh for Medicare to negotiate with um with drug comp companies and uh we've done some research into this uh you know drug prices continue to be a huge problem 3 uh 3/4 of the small businesses that we survey see see it as a problem um and um we need more transparency in the system uh we need more um you know eliminate junk fees you talked about junk fees particularly in the healthcare we need 80 88% in our poll of small business owners said they want to se facility and other junk feed in the Health Care System brought down so um you know he did touch upon a couple of these key areas that um that we're really that we really care about let me go back to the healthc care uh subsidies uh on the exchanges you you mentioned that you consider it essential that they be continued uh they were uh enhanced extended as part of the uh covid legislation are they uh in danger of going away are they expiring they are due to expire if nothing's done at the end of this year they were extended um in the inflation reduction act um for two years and now those Tri years are going to be up in little less than a year so yes they are in danger what do you think the prospects are well um look it's U it's as we found over the years the Affordable Care Act and all the benefits it's brought um are more popular than they've been uh we do have obviously um news flash here of partisan Congress but um I think that it's going to be difficult to to walk away from this level of of support for uh for people when you see the 20 million that signed up uh recently um I you know we're hopeful it's not generally viewed I don't think as a an issue for small business owners um is this primarily for do you consider it essential for business owners who um are too small to offer health insurance through their own health plan uh or is it it broader than that well as I mentioned over half of the participants in the marketplaces are either small business owners employees or self-employed and that makes sense because small businesses don't offer um coverage at the same rate the big companies do so this is a place where um business owners and self-employed and employees who aren't getting it through their um through their employer can go to get coverage so uh yes it's a huge Central issue for small businesses was there anything you were hoping to hear from the president that you did not hear well there look there's some other issues that uh he they've actually taken action on um child care has become a huge issue for small business owners and the lack of of access to uh quality Child Care uh is um is seen by this Vice PA business owner as a real problem um over half we just did a c well actually we're coming out with a Sur on this so we we haven't published it yet but over half of the folks we survey see um that uh lack of access to childcare is impediment for them and for their employees um and the the president um issued an executive order a couple weeks ago um and um you know that that helps to take steps to um to uh expand access to childcare the problem is that the subsidies that were in place to support childcare providers went away in last fall and um absent of congressional action to um to pump the that the money back into the system as childcare providers are going to struggle and I should point out the child care providers themselves are mostly small businesses mostly run by women many uh run by women of color and immigrants so um this is a not only is it an issue for um small businesses who need who they and their employees need access to child care but the actual providers of childcare themselves are small businesses the other thing we'd have liked to have heard um is um you know he talked a lot about um reproductive Health um but what most people don't realize that access is to reproductive health is a huge issue for um small businesses again we did a a survey uh last year on this issue and um 72% of wom of women entrepreneurs uh support the right of to receive an abortion 55% of Republican women these are women we surveyed um women entrepreneurs we surveyed support that um nearly 2third say that their ability to decide if and when to have children has allowed them to advance in their career and start their own business so while we're pleased the president focused on the issue of reproductive Health um you know we we want to emphasize this again most people maybe don't think of it this way it is a big issue for women entrepreneurs and for for them starting businesses and growing businesses and hiring uh women to to work in their businesses so um again it's a it's something the administration's focusing on that he talked about and we want to emphasize that it's a real small business concern as well John uh last week not only did we have the State of the Union Address there were a couple of interesting uh court rulings that I wanted to run by you one uh involves the minority business development agency um and it follows in the footsteps of similar rulings affecting affirmative action in schools and uh the sba's uh programs uh it is ruling that this agency cannot uh give out support to business owners based on race I know your organization is made up of uh a very significant percentage of business owners of color what do you and your constituents make of um of this decision well that's true Lauren I mean two-thirds of the small businesses in our um Network our our bipac owned businesses and um look this is crazy the our mission and the mission of many in government is to really is to support the businesses who need help the most and the business who need help the most are very concentrated in uh communities of color and other underresourced communities so we need to Target our efforts in those communities not like the government is only supporting businesses in minority communities um but this particular agency that's what they're targeted with there's a real need uh and um and and this is where you know if if you really want to change things and I'm sure we have a thriving and Equitable economy you need to go where the businesses are and you need to work with agencies and with private organizations who specialize in working in those communities so it to to to deny a particular agency that focuses on this particular um cohort is crazy well let me ask you this I we had a conversation previously I think it might have been in the first week of the year where we talked about the Court ruling that affected the way the SBA uh offers support and I think you were somewhat encouraging of the idea that the SBA would be able to adjust that this is going to force them to change uh but they would probably still be able to get uh support to the business owners who needed it the most it just couldn't be purely on uh racial lines do you see that as a possibility here look the SBA and the government as a whole supports businesses across all demographics however going to where the problem is focusing on where the need is which is heavily in bipo communities is an appropriate way to work we we work with businesses of all um types and sizes across the country but we target businesses in more underresourced communities and therefore we work with organizations who know those communities the best who we can partner with most effectively and if you have one agency in government like the um minority business development agency that has a focus and a Target in a particular community that is perfectly appropriate it's not like the whole government is only focused on on on those businesses but to have to have an agency that targets where the where the concern and the need is is totally appropriate as far as the sba's concern again they focus their energies on where the need is the greatest and um you know they're they're going to I presume to keep doing that I I think the Judge may have even written in his opinion some something along the lines of uh you know a business owner of color like Oprah Winfrey doesn't need this support it can't just be purely racial it should be based on actual need how do you respond to that argument look there are there are needs in particular communities to to single out someone like Oprah Winfrey was a tiny percentage of the African-American community that is obviously not in need of of of government support is is is crazy the the you look we work in communities across the country and you know the communities where the need to help the most are often bipa communities not exclusive we work in rural communities which by the way are are you know also mixed demographically so um you go to where the need is and there are communities and there are other organizations working in these communities that focus on those communities um as does the mvda and and uh and you you go to where the need is it's not exclusive and across the government it's not exclusive to our work but it is you know you have to Target uh your focus and to Simply say that there are a few people of color out there that don't need help is is a smokescreen how do you think this plays out I assume there will probably be an appeal um what what do you think the immediate impact will be well I don't have a crystal ball um but we are going to be um digging in um more intensively and doing research into what the benefit of the programs that do Target bipac and other under resource communities and what um and and the help that they provide and I think what what we want to do is say look here are these programs here's here here is how they are helping um entrepreneurs in these communities and we need to we need to maintain them the other uh Court ruling I wanted to ask you about affects the corporate transparency act uh beneficial ownership um it's a new filing requirement as of this year I believe you and I spoke about this last time as well and I got the sense from you correct me if I'm wrong that you weren't concerned that this was you overly burdensome for most uh business owners um I think everybody agrees that there's a a good cause here it's seeking to um make sure that there aren't shell companies set up to help drug dealers and other nefarious activities uh this rule ruling um declared that that uh corporate transparency Act is unconstitutional how do you uh view that we're perplexed about this first of all I don't understand how anyone could argue that it's unconstitutional to um ask for information to um to uh drive a um a need which is to uh protecting against money laundering look the vast majority of small businesses know who their owners ERS are it's a simple filing process who who are the owners um they have a year to file uh and um you know to say otherwise is is scaremongering for the small percentage of businesses that have complex ownership structures by definition they have lawyers and accountants who help to set them up who can easily navigate the system for them so your typical food truck owner or dry cleaner or hardware store they know who their owners are it's a simple it's a simple filing process and and with you know and there's a there's a real public policy need to do this with very little um friction for most businesses so we don't really understand we we did some research into this as of January we did the research already 44% of the businesses we surveyed had filed 68% of them said it was easy with only 18% saying it was difficult so um you know we we don't understand the hollow being made over this if you go to our our our site our our resource site Venture i.org there's information on there about how uh if you there's a Blog section with a Blog on on how you can um file if there's any questions about this that's ventu eyes.org ventu eyes.org which is our small business resource site excellent all right last topic um I want to ask you about immigration I highlighted a story from last week in the uh 21 hats morning report that referred to how a slew of business groups are getting more active in terms of lobbying uh in favor of immigration uh expressing the somewhat dire need that many businesses uh including small businesses feel for um more employees more workers in this country um there seems to be a potential solution here how uh how do you feel about that how does your organization feel about that well what's going on with immigration is is um is insane and uh it's being driven by partisan forces that aren't looking at the reality well first of all you look throughout our history our our economic growth what's made us world power is um is immigrants coming through over the centuries coming to this country and um and uh expanding our our productivity um we now have new arrivals coming who are eager to work and the article you talked about um well first of all study we've done that shows that two-thirds of businesses are struggling to find workers right now the article that you mentioned um showed that um there are 9 million positions open in this country 1.4 vacancies for every unemployed worker um the there's a the article also talked about a um uh Congressional budget office study that showed that immigration will add 7 trillion that's trillion with a te dollars to the economy in the coming decade boosting government tax revenue by $1 trillion so here you have a situation where there's tremendous need we know economic growth is driven um by immigration to a large extent and you have many many folks who are eager to work so it's a complete disconnect and um only one quarter of the employees registered for the H1B Visa program received visas um everyone is just petrified because this has become a partisan political issue meanwhile as you pointed out and that article pointed out the business Community is saying look we need the we need these people to work and you have people who want to work we need a comprehensive solution to our to our immigration situation um and um you know I don't want to get into the legal versus undocumented because we have over 11 million undocumented immigrants working in this country already um you know you so yes we need those folks and others coming in we need we need a rational system and we need a for the folks that are working here we need a pathway to citizenship over time and but you look at from an eon economic standpoint businesses have the need there are people here who want to work our economy has the need what are we doing do you see any hope for positive movement on this issue before the election or are we just going to have to wait and see how things shake out well I think the business Community needs to speak even louder that article did did show that there are is lobbying going on but it's really being drowned out by by by partisan forces that are turning this into an issue um that it's not and um and I'm not look I'm not here to say that people aren't concerned but I think if people realize these are economic realities here um folks that are coming migrants that are coming to cities um and and and quite rightly the Mayors in these cities are saying hey you don't have the resources well these are all folks who want to work so let's have a system we can you know we can process um their applications and allow them to work uh if they're coming through the Asylum system and they're and they're um being said and the situation is they've got to stay in the country for a certain period of time and they want to work let's figure out a way for them to work uh John I always appreciate your sharing your thinking and especially your data it's great to have numbers on uh uh especially how business VI uh owners view these particular issues um thank you so much for taking the time this episode was brought to you by the great game of business which helps businesses use an open book management system to help build healthier companies you can learn more at Great game.com John arensmeier is founder and CEO of small business majority um that website that can offer you small business resources again is ventu eyes. org thank you John have a great week everybody [Music]