Last week, the Seattle City Council, in a historic voted, passed a new city-wide standard ensuring that workers will have access to paid sick days. The vote tally was a resounding 8-1, a testament to the broad support the proposal garnered from key stakeholders in the community – including local small business owners. Continue reading
On March 17, Main Street Alliance leader Don Orange, owner of Hoesly ECO Auto & Tire in Vancouver, Washington, joined House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress at a press conference highlighting how the new health care law is already benefiting millions of small businesses and consumers as its one year anniversary approaches on March 23rd.
Don is the Chair of the Main Street Alliance of Washington, a coalition of more than 2,000 Washington small businesses affiliated with the national Main Street Alliance network. His business is a family-owned and operated auto shop with five employees. Don’s business is benefiting from the Affordable Care Act’s small business health care tax credit, which is offsetting his 2010 health care costs by 14 percent.
“As a small business owner, I know we need to keep moving forward on health care,” Don said. “We won’t go back, and we won’t let the benefits of the new law be taken away from us. The health care law is good for small businesses and good for our communities – it’s good for America.”
This report shares the findings of a survey of Washington small businesses, focusing on their experiences with credit and their reactions to one current proposal to support small business and economic growth: the creation of a state bank. This report contributes to the discussion of such a proposal by sharing the perspectives of Washington’s Main Street small businesses.
Click here to download the full report. Continue reading
On Tuesday, August 17, all eyes were on Seattle’s Pioneer Square as President Obama was in town stumping for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) in her critical primary race. Obama and Murray held a private meeting at a café with three small business owners to discuss the economy, as well as what could be done to help small business owners drive economic recovery. Of the three business owners in attendance, two of them were active members and leaders of Main Street Alliance, which speaks to the power and importance of grassroots organizing. Continue reading
