StatenIslandChamber

New York state Senate wants to help small-business owners

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The recession grinds on, with millions out of work and the poverty rate spiking.

Consumer confidence is at historic lows.

Banks won’t lend.

And small businesses feel strangled by overregulation and ever-increasing taxes, fees and tolls.

The state Senate wants to help.

Lawmakers across the state, including on Staten Island, sat down with small-business leaders yesterday to hear their concerns so they can craft legislation in the upcoming session to aid them.

“Let’s look at what it is that drives you crazy,” state Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/ Brooklyn) said at a meeting at Da Noi restaurant in Fort Wadsworth.

Some of Ms. Savino’s Senate colleagues also held meetings with small businesses in different parts of the state yesterday.

Those who met with Ms. Savino said they are finding it harder to stay in business as they get hit with higher charges for everything from Health Department violations to Port Authority tolls to electricity.

John Mancuso, owner of Gourmet Delicatessen and Gourmet Catering here, said that licensing fees to sell cigarettes rose from $100 to $1,000.

The state backed off on the increase, but Mancuso said he hadn’t been able to get a refund on what he paid.

“Licensing and other fees are really hammering us,” he said.

It doesn’t help that banks aren’t lending, making it hard for businesses to expand or even carry on day-to-day business.

“Credit is not being extended for goods and supplies,” said Staten Island Chamber of Commerce leader Linda Baran. “It’s really hamstringing them.”

Ms. Savino said it was a mistake for the federal government to prop up “too big to fail” banks without getting a “quid pro quo on allowing access to credit.”

“They have record profits,” she said, “but they’re doing nothing to stimulate the economy.”

That has made businesses themselves reluctant to take risks.

“You have a dollar, you want to hold onto that dollar,” said Edward Gomez, owner of Da Noi and other establishments.

Gomez said that his monthly electricity bill is higher than his monthly mortgage payment. To save money on fuel surcharge increases passed onto him by his goods deliverers, Gomez said that he bought his own truck.

But something like that, the leaders said, means they rely less on local businesses, which hurts the overall picture.

“To succeed, you have to kill your brother,” said Mancuso.

Federal tax policy and the impact of new health care law are also causing uncertainty.

“Nobody knows what to expect,” said Ms. Baran. “You can’t plan for the future. You don’t want to make a move.”

Ms. Savino said she would continue to speak with business leaders and would carry their concerns to Albany.

“We want to start to focus on what we can do to help small business,” she said.

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Categories: Chamber in the News