Acton discusses plans for small business during Bexley campaign stop

Dr. Amy Acton promised to “give a voice” to Ohio’s small business community during a Tuesday visit to Fox’s Bagel and Deli in Bexley.

The Democratic candidate for governor described several ideas including loans to help new businesses get off the ground, and suggested her plans to bring down household costs could help boost foot-traffic.

“It is very tight out here,” she said. “There’s no more breathing room. Everyone’s doing everything right, but it’s very tight right now.”

“I think the biggest thing I can do is give a voice to small business,” she went on. “So I intend to do that. It is the future of Ohio, and I’m excited about the future.”

After a quick tour, Acton picked up a baker’s dozen, and sat down to talk with Fox’s owner, Jeremy Fox, and Scott Bast who runs Scotty’s Café a few doors down. They described how restaurant owners are at the mercy of a wide array of rising costs.

“It just feels like as of late, it’s been more and more, and the pressure is building and building, and it’s energy, it’s gas, it’s utilities, it’s everything,” Fox said.

Bast explained his most recent electric bill more than doubled.

“It was $1,500. It’s $3,400 now,” he said. “Which for one month — my rent is that much. It’s just insane what’s going on.”

A large share of Bast’s business is catering for weddings, and that puts him in a bind when he’s quoting prices for couples a year ahead of time.

“I can’t call them two weeks before the wedding and say, ‘Well, the economy’s changed. I’ve got to raise your prices,’” Bast said.

Fox said juggling costs boils down to managing sacrifices. You can’t cut much from labor or food costs, he said, so you’re left carving up benefits that would improve your employees’ quality of life.

Fox said they reimburse a portion of health insurance costs for full-time employees and he’s proud they can offer paid time off.

But for him?

“I’m on my wife’s plan,” Fox said. “Really, when you look at restaurant profitability, owner insurance? That’s a luxury.”

Acton’s agenda

Bast suggested Acton come up with some kind of small business council within her office to “talk about issues for small businesses, not big corporations.” Acton quickly committed to that.

“We’re going to be convening small businesses coming in the door as part of a look at all of our business sector alongside JobsOhio,” Acton said. “But we want to spend a little more attention to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and legacy city small businesses, like you’re mentioning.”

She’s also hoping to replicate workforce training initiatives she’s seen in Indiana and Colorado.

“We do a lot right on workforce,” Acton said, “but there’s a lot more we could be doing, that’s what I’ve heard from businesses.”

To help entrepreneurs get businesses started, Acton is considering loan programs.

“I think about you starting out with your food truck,” she said to Fox, “and the kind of capital you needed at the beginning, and we’re particularly also focusing on minority-led businesses as well.”

Acton has proposed what she’s calling a Working Families Tax Cut, geared toward lower income families with kids.

The proposal includes an earned income tax credit and a child tax credit of $1,000 for kids six and under, and $500 for those seven to 18. She told Fox and Bast that could help their employees and customers alike.

“What we’re finding is we need some immediate relief for cash flow for people who are just working,” Acton said, “and healthcare costs are the number one cost we’re hearing about.”

She expressed concern about lack of healthcare coverage and said she’d try leveraging the state’s purchasing power to negotiate lower premiums.

“We’re doing a lot around trying to get health insurance premiums down,” she said. “We’re going to try to negotiate using the state’s power for small businesses because I’m worried about you guys not having an alternative.”

Ramaswamy’s endorsement

The Ohio Capital Journal asked Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign about his plans for small business but got no response.

Ramaswamy has gotten the endorsement of Ohio’s chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents 21,000 small and independent businesses.

“Our members were looking for a candidate who understands the challenges facing small businesses and has a vision to unlock Ohio’s full potential,” NFIB Ohio State Director Jared Weiser said in August. “They found that in Vivek Ramaswamy.”

In a press release announcing the endorsement, Ramaswamy called small businesses “the backbone of towns and cities across Ohio.” Despite years of unified Republican leadership in Ohio, he insisted they’re “getting squeezed by government overgrowth.”

“They were unfairly penalized by the disastrous COVID lockdowns that my opponent pushed on them,” Ramaswamy said. “I’ll stand with hardworking Ohioans and entrepreneurs who work, hire, build, and take risks — not the bureaucrats standing in their way. We’ll get government off the backs of small businesses so they can grow here and help Ohio families get ahead.”

Asked about Ramaswamy earning NFIB’s endorsement, Acton campaign spokeswoman Virginia Schaus said Ramaswamy’s plans for drastic tax cuts will wind up raising costs elsewhere.

“While Vivek Ramaswamy’s tax scam would raise costs for Ohio families and hurt small businesses,” she said, “as governor, Dr. Acton will be laser-focused on lowering costs.”

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