Small Business Legislative Testimony

Testimony presented before the House Committee on Economic Development and Small Business Tuesday, April 4, 2000 by BJ Wiberg, director of the Chamber's Ohio Small Business Council. Chairman Krebs, Vice Chair Calvert and members of the committee, my name is BJ Wiberg. I am the director of the Ohio Small Business Council (OSBC), a division of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. As you probably recall from previous times I have testified, the OSBC is governed by a 21-member board of small business owners and operators from throughout Ohio. With approximately 4,300 Ohio-based small business members, we are primarily concerned with public policies that affect the environment in which these businesses, and more than 250,000 others like them, operate. I come before you today to testify in support of HB 574 which proposes to create a joint legislative committee to examine how we can retain high technology start-up businesses in Ohio; identify the factors that motivate them to locate in, or relocate out of our state; and assess the overall impact these businesses have on Ohio's economy. Two recent national studies reveal a disturbing picture in terms of Ohio's small business environment compared to the other forty-nine states. In the 1999 analysis of the Economic Freedom In America's 50 States, conducted by the Center for Policy and Legal Studies at Clemson University, Ohio ranks among the bottom third -- lower than states like Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and West Virginia. And, according to the Small Business Survival Index 1998: Ranking the Environment for Entrepreneurship Across fhe Nation, Ohio ranks 43rd among the fifty states. Clearly, we must find ways to improve Ohio's environment for small business investment, risk taking and growth potential. As the private sector evolves into new and emerging fields in areas such as communications, information gathering and dissemination, biomedicine and biotechnology, the impact of new developments is difficult to imagine today -- and the more urgent it becomes to identify and address the factors that inhibit Ohio's competitive position. The health care industry, for example, depends upon advances in technology for providing optimal care. Biomedical and other high-tech discoveries are prevalent and even more possible due to the high standing of Ohio's many academic and private research institutions. Our ability to market such discoveries through Ohio-based businesses will promote the retention of highly skilled professionals in Ohio, which in turn will expand job and career opportunities for all of our citizens -- your constituents. Given Ohio's current competitive status in comparison to the other states, the Governing Board of the Ohio Small Business Council believes it is crucial that we gain an understanding of the issues that are the cause of Ohio's low standing, and then put in place public policies that will allow Ohio to be on the cutting-edge and the leading incubator in these critical areas of small business development. The study to be conducted by the proposed joint legislative committee, if broad-based, comprehensive, de-politicized and applied, will ensure that the right problems are addressed for the long-term, rather than short-term quick-fixes. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I appreciate this opportunity to present our testimony today and look forward to your support for passage of HB 574. This completes my testimony. I will be pleased to address any questions you may have.