▶ 0:07:37in the prayer. Would you please stand?
▶ 0:09:17Good morning everyone and uh I now call the committee on small business to order. Uh without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any time. I now recognize myself for my opening statement. I want to welcome everybody to today's hearing, 250 years of American Legacy, small businesses and the American dream. Happy birthday. Uh I want to thank uh our witnesses for joining us today at this time and for sharing their time with us and their experience and perspectives with this committee.
▶ 0:09:47In just a few days, our nation will celebrate the 250th anniversary of an American independence. Uh throughout this year, this committee has been welcoming to small business owners from every corner of the country to share their experiences and their perspect perspectives. Time and time again, their stories have reflected the same qualities that have defined America for the past 250 years. Hard work, innovation, and resilience in the pursuit of an opportunity.
▶ 0:10:13And as we reflect on our nation's history, it's clear that any American story would be incomplete without recognizing the role of the small business entrepreneurs. American history is in many ways the story of a small business. From the earliest settlements to the modern economy, entrepreneurship has been woven into the fabric of our nation. The men and women who built America were farmers. They were merchants, craftsmen, innovators, and manufacturers.
▶ 0:10:38From America's earliest days, small businesses created jobs, introduced new ideas, and helped transform a collection of colonies into the most pro prosperous nation in history. The American Revolution itself was shaped by entrepreneurs. Taverns served as gathering places for discussion and organization. Printers, including Benjamin Franklin, distributed ideas that have inspired us for a new nation and for centuries. Small businesses were not merely witnesses to American history. They were the architects of American history.
▶ 0:11:08And just as a small business help build America, this country has provided an environment where small businesses can thrive. Free markets, access to capital, and strong protections for private property and intellectual property have created the most dynamic economy in the world and the best place to start a small business. So consider the American innovators who changed the world. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graanbell and the Wright brothers, Walter Chrysler, and countless others.
▶ 0:11:36Their achievements transformed industries, strengthens communities, and improved everyday life for millions and millions around the world. That spirit of innovation comes today. Across the country, millions of small business owners are developing new technologies and carrying forward the tradition of the American enterprise. Today's hearing is not only about celebrating the past. It's also about preserving the American dream for future generations. We have some in this room today.
▶ 0:12:01And several of our witnesses represent businesses that have endured wars, recessions, technological change, and shifting markets. Their stories demonstrate that entrepreneurship is not simply about starting a small business. It's about building a legacy. So, as we look forward to America's next two next 250 years, uh, and I'll be there if you want to come. We'll set something up. Okay. Uh, we must ensure that small businesses remain equipped to compete, innovate, and grow.
▶ 0:12:28The success of our nation has always been tied to the the success of entrepreneurs. And if America is to remain prosperous and strong, it will be because future generations continue the work of building, creating, and taking risk. I'd like to thank our witnesses again for being here on the 4th of July. Uh, and again for being here, and I look forward to the discussion. I now yield to our ranking member from Maryland, my friend, uh, Mr. for his opening remarks.
▶ 0:12:55Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and good morning to all. Uh, I appreciate you calling this very timely hearing. Thanks to all of our witnesses for your presence today. Uh, I want to just express my excitement about America's 250th. Mr. Chairman, I look forward to joining you in 250 years more as well. Um, but as as we approach um this milestone, this 250th anniversary of our country's founding, as a former American government teacher, I am reminded of the first words in the preamble to our Constitution.
▶ 0:13:24We, the people of the US, in order to form a more perfect union. For 250 years, our effort to build that more perfect union has endured countless trials and tribulations, tragedies and triumphs. We are blessed to live in the greatest country in the world where opportunity and prosperity are available to all.
▶ 0:13:44America became the greatest country in the world in part because of the ingenuity and grit of our small businesses and the hundreds of millions of immigrants, our forefathers who came ashore to start building their dreams. Immigrants like your ancestors and mine are how we formed that more perfect union. But today, we know our union is also under attack. Corporate greed is causing our markets to consolidate, making it harder for scrappy new startups to enter and remain in business.
▶ 0:14:13Simply put, the deck is stacked against the little guy. As everything becomes less affordable due to tariffs and the war, small companies are struggling to pay their bills and their staff. These are our constituents and they are being left behind. ICE is swarming our cities, provoking fear in workers, small business owners, and our neighbors. That does not make us safer. It makes us less strong. To that end, Mr.
▶ 0:14:39Chairman, I request unanimous consent to insert the statement of the American Business, Immigration Coalition, and Small Business Majority into the record.
▶ 0:14:47Thank you. But there is good news. Our main street businesses are resilient and they show up for our communities in the face of hardships. That's the American way. That's the spirit of our nation. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and their issues aren't Democratic. They're not Republican. They are American issues.
▶ 0:15:08It's why I'm proud to have worked with Chairman Williams and members across the aisle in this committee to pass common sense legislation to improve small business assistance across the federal government. But we cannot celebrate Main Street one day and look the other way when this administration's policies make lives harder. So I look forward to a robust discussion about what has truly driven the success of Main Street in our nation and what hasn't.
▶ 0:15:33The impacts of tariffs, health care costs, and the massive unnecessary disruption to our immigrant communities. So as we commemorate America's 250th anniversary, let's honor the generations of entrepreneurs, immigrants, and the motivated hard workers who helped build this nation. Let's choose action over inaction and bipartisan solutions over gridlock. I yield back.
▶ 0:15:58Gentleman yields back. We'll now move to the witness introductions. Uh our first witness today is Mr. Adrien Ador Neta. Neta. Uh Mr. Adonetta is the owner of Ador Netas and and Jock Amus in Zanesville, Ohio. Is that right? These familyowned businesses have been serving customers in Ohio for more than 65 years. Uh Mr.
▶ 0:16:21Adonetta's family's American story began when his grandparents immigrated from Sicily, Italy, and helped build the foundation for Utteretta's Pizzeria, which his father Jimmy opened in 1958. Jimmy later founded Jacamas Bakery in 1994, fulfilling his passion for small uh for artisian bread. Both family businesses continue to serve fresh scratchmade Italian food and baked goods. Mr.
▶ 0:16:48that has purchased the family business in 2012, continue his tradition of quality Italian food and community service. Today, he is investing in the next generation by teaching his 11-year-old son, who's here, uh, the family business with the hope that he will one day become its third generation owner. Thank you for being here today very much. Our next witness is Mr. Philip Freeman. Uh, Mr.
▶ 0:17:11Freeman is the founder and CEO of Murphy's Naturals, a North Carolina based manufacturer of natural outdoor products and the loading dock on innovative co-wearousing space for entrepreneurs. Mr. Freeman spent 23 years in packaging sales before founding Murphy's Naturals in his garage in 2013 when uh what began as a as a search for an effective natural mosquito repellent has grown into a nationally recognized brand.
▶ 0:17:36And as the businesses expanded, he founded the loading dock, a co-working a co-working and warehouse community that has helped hundreds of small business launch and grow by providing affordable, flexible workplace. Those mosquitoes, do you have you got an office in Texas?
▶ 0:17:52These are very popular. Mr. Freeman is part of the US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council where he advocates for policies to strengthen America's small businesses. He earned a communications degree from Virginia Tech and served eight years as deep sea diving officer in the US Navy. Uh thank you for your service and I look forward to our discussion here. Our next witness today is Miss Anne Shai Bunkamore.
▶ 0:18:19Uh Miss Shai Bunkamore is the CEO and owner of GSSE Dynamics, a US defense manufacturer founded by her father Daniel in 1971. GSE Dynamics serves the defense industrial uh base by applying or supplying in the US Air Force, Navy, Army and major aerospace manufacturers. Uh she is joined by her father's uh c joined the father's company in 2001 and has led to its expansion into one of the nation's largest federally certified women's own small business.
▶ 0:18:50She also serves on the manufacturing in America advisory committee where she provides strategic guidance to the federal government on strengthening supply chains, improving global competitiveness and supporting America's small business manufacturers. Uh, Miss Sky Bunker Moore and her husband Jamie have four sons who may one day carry on the family business as its next generation of leaders. I look forward to your testimony. I now recognize the ranking member from Maryland, Mr.
▶ 0:19:18to briefly introduce our last witness appearing before us today.
▶ 0:19:22Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, happy to welcome Miss Veronica Cool, who is the president and CEO of Cool and Associates LLC, a bilingual outreach and strategy firm specializing in marketing and engagement for the Latino community. Before her time as an entrepreneur, Miss Koul was a banker with Wells Fargo and Bank of America, respectfully, respectively.
▶ 0:19:44Previously, Miss Koul also sat on the Open Society Institute board and the Maryland Governor's Workforce Investment Board and has served as the chairperson of the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Uh, prior to coming to Congress as Baltimore County Executive, I had the privilege to partner with Miss Cool's firm to provide my constituents with translation services for our town halls.
▶ 0:20:06Thank you so much for being an outstanding partner in our language interpretation work and for helping to level the playing field for our immigrant entrepreneur communities both then and now. Miss Koul holds a bachelor's degree in finance and international business from Cutstown University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in finance from Lyola University Maryland. Welcome, Miss Cool.
▶ 0:20:29There's a cool Texas in my district.
▶ 0:20:32Yeah. If you run for officer, you'll have instant name ID. Uh before recognizing the witnesses, uh I would like to remind them that their old testimony is restricted to 5 minutes in length. If you see the light turn red in front of you, it means your five minutes have concluded and you should wrap up your testimony. If you continue to go further, you'll hear this and that means you need to stop. But we'll we'll be fine on time. I now recognize Mr.
▶ 0:21:02Adonetta for his fiveminute opening remarks.
▶ 0:21:07Chairman Williams, ranking member Dr. Oeski, and distinguished members of the committee. Good morning and thank you for inviting me to testify today. It is a privilege to appear before you and share my family's story and what entrepreneurship has meant to generations of Americans like mine. I'm grateful to have my wife Erica here with me along with our two of our four children, Enzo and Giata.
▶ 0:21:29The other two, Gabriella and Jace, are back home in They are the reason this work matters because everything my family has built has always been about creating opportunity for the next generation. My name is Adrien Adonitto. I'm a husband, a father, a proud American by birth, a Sicilian by heritage, and entrepreneur by calling, and a product of the American dream.
▶ 0:21:51My grandparents, Philip and Katherine Anonetto, came to this country from Sicily with hope, determination, faith, and unwaver an unwavering belief in the opportunity and a lot of courage, might I add. My grandmother was only 9 years old. My grandfather was a teenager when they left everything they knew in search of a better life in America. They actually later met in America and married and settled in a small town called Zanesville, Ohio, where they raised three sons.
▶ 0:22:18One became a doctor of One built a career in financial management and leadership. And then my father James Jim Adonetto chose with the encouragement and sacrifice of his parents and his two brothers. My father opened Adonetto's Pizzeria in 1958 when he was just 19 years old. He later opened Jakamo's Breadmore in 1994. I grew up in those restaurants. Um just the other day I realized my first boardroom was not in the corporate office.
▶ 0:22:45It was every Sunday morning after church around the breakfast table. My grandmother, father, aunts, uncles, and relatives talked about the previous week's business. What worked well? What didn't work well? How do we improve it? What's on top for next week? Growing up, I became uh I'm sorry. Growing up, I dreamed of becoming an actor. And my family never pressured me into the restaurant business. But over time, the restaurant business found me, and I fell in love with the energy, the teamwork, the busy nights, and the chance to create memorable experiences for guests.
▶ 0:23:15In 2013, my father and I completed the transition of the family business. I purch I purchased the operating business while he retained the real estate. We wanted to be a transition specifically. We were father and son first, business partners second. Those lessons and other lessons I uh how I view leadership beyond my own restaurants. As a board as a past board chair of the Ohio Restaurant Hospitality Alliance, I had the opportunity to work with and advocate for restaurants and hospitality businesses across our state.
▶ 0:23:44That experience reinforced something I already knew from my own family businesses. Small business leadership matters. It matters to employees, communities, local suppliers, young workers, and the future of Main Street. You see, my grandparents sought the American dream. My father spent his life building it, and I have been blessed with the opportunity to continue it. Now, my greatest responsibility is to preserve it for my children and hopefully someday for my grandchildren. No pressure. No pressure, guys.
▶ 0:24:13But preserving that dream requires more than the family pride. It requires a business environment where small businesses can survive, reinvest, hire, and pass opportunity onto the next Running a restaurant has never been easy over the years. We have faced recessions, supply disruptions, inflation, labor challenges, rising operating costs, but nothing nothing compared to co which nearly shut us down We survived because of our employees, our community, and our ability to adapt. I've spoken a lot about my family.
▶ 0:24:43There's also my employee family. My family's business would not be where it is today without thousands of Ohioans have worked for us over the past six decades. Many started entry- level jobs as teenagers, saw opportunity in this industry, and offered that the industry offered and worked their way to positions of greater responsibility. I'm grateful to members of Congress who recognized the small businesses are still carrying the burden from the pandemic, inflation, rising cost. Tax provisions such as accelerated depreciation make a real difference.
▶ 0:25:10They allowed me to reinvest in my business, complete overdue improvements, renovate locations, and hire local Zanesville, Ohio contractors to do the work. Family businesses do not pass down do not just pass down recipes. They pass down values, responsibilities, work ethic, integrity, and the belief that every generation should leave something better than it found. Restaurants and small businesses like mine are part of the American fabric. To our patrons, we're gathering places for first dates, anniversaries, birthdays, sports celebrations, and family milestones. to our communities.
▶ 0:25:41We are employers, training grounds, and taxpayers and anchors the local economy. Thank you again for allowing me to share my life or my family story. It is in many ways a story of America. May God bless our small businesses, the customers who support them, the employees who work them, the families who build them, and the United States of America.
▶ 0:26:01Gentleman yields back. Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Freeman for his fiveminute opening
▶ 0:26:12Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Oeski, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Philip Freeman and I'm the founder and CEO of Murphy's Naturals, a natural products company based in Raleigh, North Carolina that manufactures plant-based mosquito repellents. I'm also the founder of the Loading Dock, a co-working and co-areousing community serving nearly 1300 members and 450 small businesses.
▶ 0:26:42I'm proud to testify on behalf of the US Chamber of Commerce and its small business council of which I'm a member. As we mark 250 years of American independence, there's no better time to reflect on the ultimate engine of this nation's prosperity, American small business. My entrepreneurial journey didn't start in the traditional way and I didn't have a formal finance background or education.
▶ 0:27:09It started on the Virginia farm where I was raised and later during my service as a deep sea diving officer in the United States For decades, I filed away business ideas, telling myself the time wasn't right. But sitting in my garage in Raleigh, I looked at a simple problem that we had at home.
▶ 0:27:29My wife Pam, who's here, um she is an absolute mosquito magnet and we both disliked the chemical repellents that were on the market. Because I couldn't find an effective natural alternative, I developed one myself. So, Garage Born, that is the American story. Identifying a need, taking a risk, and building something from nothing.
▶ 0:27:54What started in our garage has grown into 120,000 square foot manufacturing facility where we make 85% of our products and employ nearly 50 full-time team members. But scaling is never a straight line. Early on, I hit a massive roadblock, which was space.
▶ 0:28:14Traditional commercial leases were rigid, expensive, and completely mismatched for the bootstrap I signed a multi-year personal guaranteed lease for a small space, outgrew it in six months, and found myself trapped. There had to be a better way. When I finally found a larger facility, I decided to build a concept to help other entrepreneurs facing those same hurdles. I leased extra space and load launch the loading dock.
▶ 0:28:43Today we provide flexible affordable co-wear housing for hundreds of startups across three campuses. Essentially we were a startup starting a startup for startups and and that is a little bit crazy and not well advised but it's worked. But that is what small business owners do. We don't just solve our own problems. We build the infrastructure to help others solve theirs. But we can't do it alone.
▶ 0:29:14On behalf of entrepreneurs working around the clock, I want to highlight three urgent priorities for the committee. First, access to capital and flexible space. The single greatest barrier for an early stage company is Congress can unlock immense growth by expanding access to SBA lending tools and supporting flexible small business Second, regulatory clarity and innovation. Small businesses can't afford teams of lawyers.
▶ 0:29:44We need clear, accessible guidance from federal agencies so entrepreneurs have a clear path to bring forward disruptive, beneficial ideas. Three, pathways for veterans and second career founders. Our most successful founders are often veterans who bring decades of wisdom. Congress must continue to fund vital pipelines like Hiring Our Heroes and the Honor Foundation. We provide generous education opportunities for veterans.
▶ 0:30:12Imagine the economic impact if we could provide similar grants and favorable loans for veterans taking a startup Members of the committee 250 years ago are founders of this nation everything on a radical idea that free people given the opportunity would build something The American dream is not a relic of the past. It is alive in every garage, bare bedroom and warehouse bay across your districts.
▶ 0:30:43But it requires tending. It requires policies that lower barriers, reward responsibility, and trust in American ingenuity. I'm here because I believe this committee has the power to make it easier for the next Philip Freeman to take that leap a little sooner with the confidence that their country is the wind at their back. Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:31:11Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Miss Shyunko Moore for her fiveminut opening remarks.
▶ 0:31:18Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Alchevki, and members of the committee. My name is Anne Shbankco Moore and I am the owner and CEO of GSC Dynamics. We are a family-owned defense manufacturer on Long Island, New York. I'm honored to be here on behalf of the small businesses and manufacturers that drive our nation's economy. My company grew out of the cradle of aviation on Long Island.
▶ 0:31:43It was from Long Island's Roosevelt Field that Charles Lindberg began his flight across the Atlantic. And it was on Long Island during the golden age of aviation following the Great War that manufacturers pioneered aircraft not for wartime but for peace time opening the skies for commercial flight. And it was a Long Island company named Grumman Aerospace that transformed carrierbased aircraft during World War II.
▶ 0:32:12Grumman helped give the Arsenal of democracy its wings. Later, Grumman answered the call to make the impossible real, crafting the Apollo lunar module that landed America on the moon. Grumman also built something else. My father, Daniel Shabbanko's career. My father was an engineer when the company encouraged him to start a small side business in 1971.
▶ 0:32:40And eight years later, he left Grumman to run GSE Dynamics full-time. Decades after I walked the factory floor as a child, he invited me to join the company in 2001. And in 2003, GSSE became a woman-owned small business. And I continued to work beside my dad until his passing in 2019.
▶ 0:33:03And today, GSC is a top woman-owned supplier for the US military, building complex assemblies for the B-52 bomber, the M1 Abrams tank, naval submarines, and many more. We are the top woman-owned small business supplier to DA aviation, and a critical supplier for the US Navy's periscope mast fairings. And with over 90 employees, we are among the 93% of US manufacturers classified as small businesses.
▶ 0:33:34This is my family story and this is GSC's story. This is a true Long Island story. And today, just days from America's 250th anniversary, this is an American story. America's small businesses have always been where innovation takes flight. But as everyone in this room knows, America's success does not just happen. It must be built. It must be protected.
▶ 0:34:05And it must be strengthened. The best investment in manufacturers comes from public policies that help small businesses like mine invest, grow, and thrive. First and foremost, that means protecting progrowth tax policies like those Congress passed last year in HR1. Provisions like immediate expensing are helping GSE invest in the future.
▶ 0:34:30Already this year, we have purchased a new five-axis machining center that will help us build better and faster. We're also expanding a facility and investing in new research to help keep GSC on the cutting edge. Secondly, we need reliable access to capital because long before a product leaves the factory floor, manufacturers must invest in expensive equipment and raw materials to build it.
▶ 0:34:59That's why increasing SBA lending limits is so important, precisely as this committee did through the Made and America Manufacturing Finance Act. Third, we must address workforce shortages. Manufacturing offers great careers for highly skilled technicians, machinists, welders, trades people along with administrative and professional staff.
▶ 0:35:22We must strengthen employer-led workforce training and encourage more young people to see manufacturing as a career of purpose and opportunity. And finally, we must remember that our national security depends on a strong defense industrial base. To build more resilient supply chains, we need a 21st century permitting system. We need to protect pro America, pro- manufacturing trade agreements like the US MCA. And we need more access to key inputs like critical minerals.
▶ 0:35:51And when I think about America's 250th anniversary, I think about the chance my father took 50 years ago in a country that rewards risktakers. I think about GSC's contribution not just to Long Island's story as the cradle of aviation, but to America's story as the land of opportunity. a place where manufacturers don't just build products, we build families and we build communities and we build a stronger country. 50 years from now, I hope another family business will be here telling its story.
▶ 0:36:20Or maybe even my son James will be sharing GSC's next chapter. That will happen through your courage and your vision to back policies that strengthen America's industrial base. If our leaders work together, America will lead as the best place in the world to create and make things and our dreams will take flight. Thank you very much.
▶ 0:36:42Thank you. Well said. Uh gentle lady yields back. I now recognize Miss Cool for her five minute opening remarks.
▶ 0:36:49Chairman Williams, ranking member Belasquez, Congressman Johnny O. Thank you very much for having me today. 15 years ago, I was sitting in my kitchen table wondering whe whether filing the paperwork for a tiny government subcontract was even worth the effort. Today, it's one of the greatest honors of my life to appear before Congress because that little opportunity became the foundation of a company that now helps strengthen communities across our entire country. That is the American dream.
▶ 0:37:17My name is Veronica Coul and I'm the founder, president, and CEO of Cooland Associates LLC, a Maryland based small business I started in 2011. I was born in Dominican Republic and I came to the US believing what millions of immigrants have believed for generations that if I worked hard, if I kept um learning, treating people with integrity and I persevered, I could build a better life. And America gave me that opportunity. When I started my business, I didn't have investors.
▶ 0:37:45I didn't have venture capital or a family business I inherited. I had 20 years of banking experience, grit, and an idea that organizations could better serve people by building trust, not just translating words. And that little tiny idea became the basis for my company. Today, our team helps government agencies across all aisles, hospitals, nonprofits, universities, and businesses communicate more effectively, engage communities, and solve very complicated issues.
▶ 0:38:13But our success, just like my fellow witnesses here, didn't happen overnight. Like every single entrepreneur, we had to work really hard and earn it. One of our very first government contracts was a tiny little thing, as I mentioned earlier. And I remember thinking probably wasn't even worth it. The paperwork was excessive. The compliance reporting was extensive. And for us being tiny, it actually felt like more work than the work we were getting paid to do. But of course, we kept delivering and working on it. That one opportunity became another and then another. And every project taught us something.
▶ 0:38:43Every satisfied client became a reference. every single problem, mistake, and challenge made us stronger. Recently, I had one of those uh full circle moments that we all celebrate and hope for. During a really competitive procurement bid, I learned that the prime contractor and every subcontractor in that group had adjusted their schedule around ours because the agency wanted the cool team included in the proposal.
▶ 0:39:07Not because we were the biggest, not because there was a large marketing budget, but because over 15 years, we had earned a reputation for delivering quality, building trust, and helping organizations genuinely connect with the communities they serve. I've been fortunate to receive awards throughout my career, but that one moment meant more to me than any other plaque or recognition. It told me that our work became trusted enough to influence outcomes that improve communities and create opportunity.
▶ 0:39:36To me, that is what entrepreneurialship is all about. Small businesses do not just create jobs. We solve problems. We strengthen neighborhoods. And we mentor future leaders. We create opportunities for others. We build legacy. It's what my father taught me. My team experienced that firsthand during the CO 19 pandemic. We supported the state of Maryland, Governor Hogan at that time, by translating and culturally adapting urgent public health information in a matter of hours.
▶ 0:40:04so essential workers and multilingual communities could receive life-saving information when they needed it the most. We were proud to do it even though it required around the clock work, significant personal sacrifice, and tremendous resilience. Experiences like that have taught me that one important lesson. Communication is economic infrastructure. And being in Baltimore, we know that ports and highways are communication, but communication is an integral part of that.
▶ 0:40:31When people understand how to access health care, workforce opportunities, government services, and small business resources, they show up and they participate. When they participate, businesses grow, communities become stronger, and our economy benefits. And as Congress looks to that next 250 years, I'm hoping for something simple. Please continue to create an environment where entrepreneurs can do what they do best, innovate, adapt, and build.
▶ 0:40:58Please provide greater predictability, reduce unnecessary administrative burdens, invest in workforce development and technology. Please ensure that um that ensure that qualified small businesses have the opportunity to compete. The American dream, I know, did not guarantee success, but it did promise opportunity. That opportunity changed my life and I hope together we can ensure remains available for the future generation of entrepreneurs. I thank you for the opportunity and look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:41:28Gentle lady yields back. Those were great opening comments. Thank you for all of you. Uh we'll now move to the member questions under the five minute rule that we went over with you. I now recognize myself for five minutes. Uh Mr. Adornetto uh successfully been in business for 68 years. You said crossing two generations. And according to the pizza today, your business is in the top 100 independently owned pizzeras in the nation.
▶ 0:41:54My question is what has enabled uh you to remain successful across multiple generations? And as you look to the future, what lessons do you hope to pass down to the next generations that sitting behind you uh to ensure that you continue for many years and many more generations to come?
▶ 0:42:11You know, as I said in my opening statement, Mr. Chairman, thank you for the question, by the way. Um just the work ethic that was passed down to me from my grandparents, my father, um has helped us achieve that. our community, our great workforce that we've had in the past and currently and hopefully in the future reference the future hopefully have more workforce development. We need that in hospitality industry.
▶ 0:42:34Making sure that people realize that they can make a career of that and obviously access to capital and expansion will help out greatly and continuing to achieve that award with pizza today in the future as well for the next generations to come.
▶ 0:42:46Great. Uh Mr. Freeman uh to you. You started your first company Murphy's Naturals uh in search of a natural bug repellent for your wife. That's a great story in itself. So uh after experiencing the firsthand challenges of starting and scaling back a business, scaling a business, you then launched your second business, the loading dock, which is a flexible warehouse space as you talked about where you help mentor and guide other growing entrepreneurs.
▶ 0:43:12So question is, can you share how the loading dock is helping other small business owners overcome barriers, grow their companies, and achieve the American dream?
▶ 0:43:21Yes sir. Uh and thank you Mr. Chairman for the question. Um one of the biggest hurdles that I ran into starting off was I was a soloreneur. Um I was doing things on my own. I didn't have uh much of a base of support to work from to ask questions about how you start a new business. it was really figuring it out myself in that scrappy way. Um, there were many hurdles that I had to overcome.
▶ 0:43:47Um, some of them were, as I mentioned before, signing a multi-year lease for a warehouse and having to personally guarantee that when I really didn't know if my business would thrive or not, I figured there had to be a better way to do this. So what we did is we created a vast amount of warehouse space and we divided it up into individual units and that allows small business to come in and is used as little as 100 square feet to support their business.
▶ 0:44:16Um and that's an incredible thing for them to have that flexibility. And now we have units as big as 2400 square feet. But we don't require a lease and we don't require a personal guarantee. Matter of fact, they don't even have to buy the material handling equipment that they need to move their goods, to receive goods, to warehouse goods, and to ship goods. We supply all of that, and it's shared.
▶ 0:44:41Um, so by removing some of those hurdles, it made a massive difference for people to be willing to start something. And I would never want anyone to regret never starting something because of those hurdles. Now, we can't remove the hurdles, the entrepreneurialism, but we can lower them. And if we lower them and we get a few more people to say, "Yes, I'm going to give it a try." Then that matters. Um, and then lastly, as far as that's concerned, is we've built a community.
▶ 0:45:10When you think about all those different entrepreneurs working in the same building together, they share ideas, they commiserate, uh they speak about the victories, the challenges, and um you know, that's that's a big deal. Um when you have other people to work with even though they're not part of the same company, that's that's a very very big deal. And to have that community and that's all around Murphy's Naturals at our main headquarters.
▶ 0:45:38So we we derive energy from all of those people and several of those people became team members at Murphy's Naturals as well. So very beneficial.
▶ 0:45:47Well, thank you for that. And uh in limited time I got Miss Shy Bunko more since the founding of our nation, small businesses have played a vital role in strengthening America's ability to defend itself. Uh could you speak briefly to the unique role that small businesses like yours playing supporting America's war fighters today? And more broadly, can you uh talk about what it the critical what's critical for our national security that we continue to foster an environment where small business can start, grow, and thrive?
▶ 0:46:14Thank you very much for the question. It's a big question uh for something very important that we all do. So, uh to support obviously the defense industrial base brings pride every day, not only to me, my family, but to my employees, which is the most important uh thing that I have, right, my workforce. Uh so I I think right now I'm going to get to the the end of your question first with the time allotted here. Uh we have to focus on workforce and make sure that we continue to train the workforce that can manufacture the parts that we need for our national security.
▶ 0:46:44Uh we need to make sure that we are building our supply chain. We need to make sure that we're building capacity and capability uh in this nation and which right now I believe it was referenced is diminishing right now uh with all the different business dealings that are going on. We absolutely have a diminishing supply chain in our defense industrial base which poses a threat. And I also believe we need to do some more branding and marketing for manufacturing. We have to make sure that people understand that it is a a noble job to be in a manufacturing company.
▶ 0:47:10My time is up.
▶ 0:47:11I I saw that. That's why I went to the end of your question first. Thank you.
▶ 0:47:17I now recognize a ranking member for five minutes for questions.
▶ 0:47:22Uh thank thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Um, it's the 250th anniversary. So, Miss Cool, I'll start with a with a fun question. Why is America the best place to start a small
▶ 0:47:35Oh my gosh. The United States of America rewards innovation when an immigrant can come with the focus and the determination to build a business from the ground up like me. That's rewarded. That is absolutely rewarded. being able to create jobs, invest in my neighborhoods, invest in my communities. You can't do that anywhere else in the world. So, happy birthday.
▶ 0:48:00Happy birthday, America indeed. And Miss Cool, your story is an inspiration. Um, and I think speaks to that promise. Um, I know that minority committee staff released two reports uh warning uh about the ways in which the Trump administration is draining Main Street of Critical staff and entrepreneurs. So, Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to put those reports into the record.
▶ 0:48:22Thank you. Uh, Miss Cool, can you speak to how you see President Trump's mass deportations uh as hurting your clients ability to find and keep workers and make sales?
▶ 0:48:33Well, I can speak for the perspective of seeing what's happening in my communities and the organizations we serve. When there's uncertainty around many employers report greater difficulty recruiting and retaining workers. and the community declines in participating because hesitation, they're fearful. So whether we're talking about health care, workforce, um we need stability, trust matters.
▶ 0:49:01My hope is that we can maintain a legal or a lawful immigration system that also serves the small businesses so that our workers can grow and our communities can feel more stable.
▶ 0:49:13Appreciate that perspective. Um, Miss Shabbankmore, someone who has a difficult name, I appreciate um sharing that with you. Um, womenowned small businesses saw 2.3 billion less in federal contract dollars than in 2024. The WOSB program is severely unused and the goals are unmet. Can you speak to um how bolstering this critical program might help small businesses and the industrial base?
▶ 0:49:41Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for for that question indeed. So the I think in general before you get to the womanowned small business specific though I think you have to uh accept the fact that there are more barriers to entry into federal contracting as a whole. Uh so so I would say that across the board it's hard to um get companies to again enter into federal contracting and then as you narrow into the womanowned small business you have to ensure that they're mentored and trained and understand all the requirements and regulations uh in order to succeed.
▶ 0:50:10uh and when I was on the National Women's Business Council uh a few years back, that was really the focus. You you can bring them to the federal contracting world, but you really have to ensure that they will succeed in it. And I think that's uh definitely a focus of mine in terms of making sure that we are mentoring and training and working together as partners uh in that federal contracting world. Uh small business community is very close um and we do tend to want everyone to rise um and succeed.
▶ 0:50:37Uh so I think it's imperative that again we continue to look at what the red tape is um to get into federal contracting that we minimize it. I know the administrator is working on that. um the access again to capital so that women owned businesses can uh succeed and and grow um and overall just um be able to have a a conversation and communication direct with the government uh which I will say in my years of experience uh I'm thrilled to see that there is strong communication right now between the small business
▶ 0:51:07leaders and specifically defense logistics agency I've never seen uh the support right now because I think they recognize uh the need and the imperative nature of making sure that these businesses thrive.
▶ 0:51:21Appreciate that. Um, and then Mr. Freriedman, uh, you write that several of your product components can't be sourced in the US and that quote tariffs will eliminate profits and put this innovative technology into a loss position. Can you just expand a little bit upon that and sort of your the impacts you're seeing? Thanks.
▶ 0:51:38I'll be happy to. Thank you. Um, so yeah, tariffs, tariffs are definitely a challenge, especially when you don't have the time to plan for them because oftentimes we're pricing products for retail and giving those uh price points well in advance. Um, and and we've had the situation where tariffs have have hit us um in a way that we had to absorb a lot of that additional cost.
▶ 0:52:04Um but but we show adaptability um and and where it created some challenges for us. It also created opportunities as well. Um in terms of because we're a manufacturer, people actually asked us if we could manufacture for them as a US-based company. So sir, there are challenges with it, but there are also
▶ 0:52:26Thank you for that. I see my time's expired. Uh happy birthday, America. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
▶ 0:52:32Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Muser from the great state of Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
▶ 0:52:36Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for being here very much. We're glad to be with you. It seems like a very strong and positive uh uh discussion we're having. So, that's that that's very uh important to hear. You know, I spent a lot of time helping grow a small business to a large business myself for almost 25 years.
▶ 0:52:53And you know, I sometimes I when people say, "What what's it take?" I say, "Well, find out what you like, be committed to it, and in 20 years, you might have something." Um yeah so it um you know we um there's a lot of the environment matters um of course small business accounts for 99% of uh of employ not employment but of the businesses about 60% of the employment.
▶ 0:53:19Uh so it's really the truly the the proverbial but um uh uh literal backbone of the United States economy. Taxes, regulations, skills development, workforce, overall environment that can be created uh within a state, you know, state regulations like in Pennsylvania matter a lot. We tend to have we're very very overly burdened with uh regulations in Pennsylvania. We need to change that.
▶ 0:53:43Versus Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Texas, where all the jobs are going to, you know, consumer demand. I mean, that that's a big part of of government, right? Making sure that interest rates are there, access to capital, of course, all of those regulations. But outside of that, well, you know, there there's an old saying, too, you just get out of my way. uh which you probably say on occasion, but then again from from OSHA and many of the other regulations and workers compensation, you know, all these things are are definitely necessary.
▶ 0:54:13You know, there's a reason I just looked this up. You know, the EU in 1995 had a uh GDP of 8.3 trillion, 800 um billion more than than the United States. We were at 7.6. Today, the EU is at 21.2 and we're at 30 trillion. So, we're we're obviously doing a lot right as as far as growing an an economy.
▶ 0:54:38Um, so, um, just based upon the conversations and statements you've been making and Miss Moore, I'm going to start with you if you don't mind. Um, I'm from Long Island originally, by the way, so I see your business is in Hop
▶ 0:54:50and I grew up there and I remember Grumman and extremely well. I think everybody worked at Grumman there for a while. They did.
▶ 0:54:56Uh, but congratulations on your on on your business. um what what what if you were sitting in my seat, you know, if you were uh making some of these governmental rules and all uh what what what do you think you need to make you grow better over the next 5 years?
▶ 0:55:12Yeah, thank you. And and uh happy to hear that you're from Long Island. Uh I think right now people need to recognize that um first of all, small businesses and manufacturing to me is a center aisle issue. Everyone should support small businesses and manufacturing. Uh and at the end of the day, no matter what decisions are happening here, we still have to work every day, make our product and feed for myself 90 families, right? At the end of the day, that's what I'm responsible for. Uh so I am always looking at the decisions that are being done uh and made here.
▶ 0:55:42Uh ensuring that again in order to grow access to capital uh is always the key. Uh I'd like to buy more equipment. I'd like to grow my capacity. I like to grow my capability, continue to grow and expand and support the US defense industrial base. Um, and then obviously create jobs uh that people can uh be proud of, that people can support their families on.
▶ 0:56:02Um, so sometimes I have to stop hearing the noise uh that is sometimes out there and focus that I just have to continue waking up every morning and making the products that I make and uh and meet the goals and production rates that I have. products, people, process, all the all the P's you gota you gota you got to nail payment very important in business.
▶ 0:56:24Um the working family tax cut which was in the big beautiful bill you mentioned earlier the importance of it the 199A the bonus depreciation the R&D tax cuts uh perhaps the overtime also help your your employers. Um I'm move on to Miss Cool. Could you maybe answer the same question as far as what what would you like to see improve from a regulatory government tax standpoint for your business to grow better over the next 5
▶ 0:56:49I would say predictability. We need to be able to plan for us to invest, buy equipment, hire people. Same thing with my clients. I cannot get commitments on contracts or proposals because they themselves are impacted what may happen tomorrow. So, as we're planning to feed our families, to keep our folks employed, to pay for kids' colleges, mortgages, we can afford to go out and make willy-nilly decisions because tomorrow the rules have changed.
▶ 0:57:15I agree.
▶ 0:57:16Being able to have predictability is it's a priority.
▶ 0:57:19That's very important. I I couldn't I very much agree. Mr. Ordinato, Odinetto, your same question to you.
▶ 0:57:25Adornetto. Yes, sir. Thank you for the
▶ 0:57:28Adonetto. Um I would say obviously predictability as well, access to capital continue to do, you know, specifically you've done some things with uh no tax on tips on the federal level and that's helped my industry
▶ 0:57:43Um the employees that pardon
▶ 0:57:46me my time has expired. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
▶ 0:57:49Gentleman yields back. I now recognize Mr. Tran from California State of California for 5 minutes.
▶ 0:57:55Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you ranking member for convening today's hearing. Thank you to the witnesses for being here. Uh for 250 years, the American dream has been built by people who believed hard work and took a leap of faith to build something of their own. Nowhere is that story more powerful than in Southern California. There's our small business community in Southern California. In Los Angeles and Orange County, I see it every day. These are family-owned restaurants, manufacturers, contractors, startups, and neighborhood shops.
▶ 0:58:25They are run by entrepreneurs from every background, including Asian-Americans, Latinos, and immigrant business owners who have helped power our economy and create good paying jobs. They represent the very best of America. This committee has done real bipartisan work for this Congress, moving bill after bill with support from both sides of the aisle. At a time when Congress feels more divided than ever, this committee has shown that bipartisan progress is still possible.
▶ 0:58:55But good bipartisan bills sitting on the Senate floors floor does not help anyone on Main Street. In fact, there are over 20 bipartisan small business bills that have passed this House and are now stalled in the Senate. The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship under the leadership of Senator Joanie Erns has held just a handful of markups this Congress, all last year and none this year.
▶ 0:59:23And while those bipartisan bills stall, small businesses across America cannot afford to wait. They are facing raising costs, uncertainty, uncertainty, and economic pressures every single day. They are dealing with President Trump's trade war, tariffs that r that raises the cost of supplies, inflation, the loss of the Affordable Care Act, uh tax credit, and the cost of oil and energy skyrocketing due to the president's war of choice in Iran.
▶ 0:59:51That is why Senate gridlock gridlock is so costly. Every month, bipartisan bills sit without Senate consideration is a month small business owners go without relief while cost keeps climbing around them. Main Street is asking Congress for help and right now chairwoman Erns isn't answering. The small business committee has proven bipartisan progress is possible. Now the Senate needs to match that urgency and act.
▶ 1:00:17Miss Cool, from your perspective working with small businesses, is President's Trump erratic policies making it harder for
▶ 1:00:26Speaking from my perspective, the lack of predictability certainly impacts me as a small business, you know, and so again, anyone we work with, whether it's a client, whether it's a partner, whether it's a vendor, without knowing what's happening tomorrow, were hampered. Let me uh follow up with um what would it mean for Main Street if Senate Republicans uh sit on these bipartisan bills while financial pressure keeps building up?
▶ 1:00:53You know, again, speaking from my perspective, I can tell you that we as small businesses need improved procurement access, improved access to technical assistance, you know, support for new technologies like AI. So when things are delayed repeatedly, we cannot make decisions. We cannot hire comfortably. We can't invest in future
▶ 1:01:17Miss Cool, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced they'll make temporary visa holders leave America to apply for green cards. Uh something that I'm actually working with the judiciary committee to oppose. How will that policy hurt immigrant entrepreneurs and the Americans that they employ? You know, we mentioned at the very beginning how the United States uh rewards innovation.
▶ 1:01:39When we do not know regardless of the status whether you're able to stay or not, whether tomorrow the rug gets pulled from you, that impacts our ability to make decisions. I feel like a broken record. So, apologies for that. But not knowing if a status or uh a current small business will not be able to function tomorrow prevents us from bidding on things, prevent prevents us from hiring, from paying our workers. It's that simple.
▶ 1:02:05Shifting gears a bit, healthc care costs are still a barrier to entrepreneurship for Americans looking to take the leap of faith and start a small business. Uh, Miss Cool, how would expanding health care through Medicaid and the ACA help aspiring entrepreneurs join the business
▶ 1:02:19That's actually one of the main reasons people do not start small businesses because they need to have their family covered. So, when we don't have access to health care, we're unable to make or take that innovative risk to launch the business and grow the business. With the few seconds I have left, Miss Shyanko Moore, do you have anything to add to that question?
▶ 1:02:38Again, I echo the predictability, but I think you also, if you were to look through the lens of a small business owner, just please look at all the risks that we are trying to mitigate every day. It's health care, it's the cost of material, it's the cost of salaries, it's the cost of living. Uh so please, these are stackable for us. We're dealing with this every day as you're voting on one issue at a time.
▶ 1:02:57Thank you so much. And with that, I yield back. gentleman yields back. I now recognize Miss King Hines from the great northern Mariana Islands for five minutes.
▶ 1:03:08Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, I think as we celebrate America's 250th anniversary, one of the greatest lessons that uh we can learn from small businesses is resilience. Uh I've heard you tell your stories about having to endure the pandemic, have to endure changing regulations, lack of clarity, uh and just the b the changing business dynamics, right?
▶ 1:03:31And so, you know, folks back home, small business back home right now have are barely have barely recovered from a super typhoon that hit us two months ago. And as I head back home tomorrow, uh I got to board up uh because another typhoon is on the way, right? And you know, the one beautiful thing that we saw after the this last typhoon was, you know, these businesses, they lost inventory.
▶ 1:04:00You know, they they lost their roofs. Um they lost equipment, but they quickly came back the next day. they cleaned um you know they started rebuilding and people just started helping one another and the one thing that I've realized having been a member for 18 months is that you know um whether you're from the Marianas or or from the United States the continental United States right our communities are built by the same values which is faith you know family
▶ 1:04:31hard work and the belief that tomorrow can be better than today and And I feel that my responsibility as a member of Congress is to ensure that you are given every opportunity in terms of you know just some of um the policies that are out there to thrive so that this country can continue on uh you know this this great American path.
▶ 1:04:57And so I want to yield the remainder of my time to you uh and and we'll start with Mr. Adon Adoretto uh to just you know brief if there if there's one policy that that you can change you know what would it be and I I want everybody to have equal time so I have about two 250 please share
▶ 1:05:21in my industry credit card swipe fees they are approaching more my profit and loss and what I pay for benefits for my employees. please.
▶ 1:05:35Uh for my industry uh at Murphy's Naturals, um we fall under the uh US EPA. Um, and it would be really helpful from a innovative standpoint if we were able to um have ways have people who could advocate for us for bringing forward new and inventive ways of using natural products um that don't necessarily conform to the strict guidelines that are in place now
▶ 1:06:05where we could actually add new ingredients. um because the list has been the same for a very long time on active and inerts. So to have the ability to introduce new ingredients, natural ingredients would be a huge help. Thank you very much for the time. Uh again in my in my industry, I'm going to say the the word predictability again and ensuring that demand signals are clear for the defense industry.
▶ 1:06:34Uh making sure that we are able to buy again the raw material that we need to get. So we need to talk um much more about funding and how we can manage cash better in the small business so that we can grow and buy new equipment and grow capability which I have mentioned.
▶ 1:06:47Um, but the other that I'll say with uh these few seconds left is that uh I think we have to we're we're celebrating 250 years and we're all now thinking what is this next long game look like the next 250 years uh and I am hoping praying every day uh not only in my short life in in perspective uh that I can pass on my company uh to my family but also that we just continue to focus again on this long game of small businesses and manufacturing.
▶ 1:07:17Uh I believe chairman you mentioned the architects right? Um well I'm curious what drawings we're drawing right now for the next 250 years of what US manufacturing looks like. Uh and I do hope that we are again looking at the long game the decisions that are going to impact us for these next 250 years. Thank you.
▶ 1:07:34So echoing a lot of my what my fellow witnesses have mentioned uh for me is needs to be language access. It's not just symbolic to put something in a foreign language so we can access it. The world is global. Our community is global regardless of what anyone's thinking. And when we don't provide access in simple language, we are missing a swath of the population. That's our workforce. That's the future doctors, the future architects. These are the people that are driving the next 250 years.
▶ 1:08:05When issues are complex and not easily digestible, we are excluding folks. Along with language access, one of the main things that can be done is technical assistance, especially around new technologies like AI. It's not going anywhere. So, do we have access to resources where small businesses can be supported in learning and implementing those tools so that we are able then to function and continue to be competitive?
▶ 1:08:32I'm out of time. I yield back. Thank
▶ 1:08:34gentle lady yields back. I now recognize Miss Goodlander from the great state of New Hampshire for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:08:39Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today and for sharing your American small business stories. It's exactly the right spirit for this week, for this moment, because we've gathered in the 250th year of the greatest experiment in self-government that the world has ever 250 years ago this week, the Second Continental Congress, and Congress doesn't get a
▶ 1:09:09lot of great reviews these days, but we did do one very good thing 250 years ago, and that was in creating a fiveperson subcommittee to draft a declaration. The effort was led by a 33-year-old Virginia, Thomas Jefferson. He spent 17 days in a rented room in Philadelphia. And what he produced, what that congressional subcommittee produced was probably the best thing Congress has ever produced.
▶ 1:09:39And it was probably the most consequential document in the history of human freedom. We hold these truths to be self-evident, straightforward, not bureaucratic, just a clear statement that every human being is created equal and entitled to rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
▶ 1:10:02I had a chance a a few weeks ago to spend some time with three extraordinary small businesses in in my state of New Hampshire. Our our our motto as a state is live free or die. And we have family farmers who have been operating their farms for 250 years. Their ancestors fought in the revolution and they are continuing to fight to keep these small businesses afloat.
▶ 1:10:30One of the things I talked about with these these three incredible small businesses was h how do you how have you stayed in business for 250 years? And really, I think the answer to how small businesses, how America stays forever young is a constant reinvention. And Miss Cole, you you you said it so well that reinvention is the small business superpower. It is an adapt.
▶ 1:10:58It is constantly reinventing to solve problems and to seize opportunities. And you have all done that in your own small businesses. But the throughine to me in this hearing has been the absolute urgency in giving you the predictability and the clarity that you need to continue to stay forever young and to f fuel our economy.
▶ 1:11:21We know that that arbitrary and capriccious decisionm is the enemy of predictability and clarity. Kleptocracy is bad for small business. lawless and unconstitutional taxation is bad for small businesses. In they were the sources of the revolution.
▶ 1:11:41And so, as I've as I've listened to small businesses across the state of New we come back again and again to the unconstitutional to the corrupt and extremely costly tariffs that President Trump unilaterally imposed on every small business in this country. We challenged those tariffs in court. We were successful in the Supreme Court.
▶ 1:12:06We are pressing for reimbursement for every unconstitutional dollar that was taxed by this president. Mr. Freeman, you you spoke about the impact of tariffs on your small business. Have you sought to be reimbursed for these unconstitutional
▶ 1:12:23Uh certainly as a small business, um every bit of cash that we can have that we can deploy is is critical. Um, so yes, I mean we we have submitted for refunds of uh tariffs. Um, and
▶ 1:12:39and have you received those refunds?
▶ 1:12:41Um, no, but we just received an update uh actually yesterday. Um, that we will be receiving a credit and actually coming through one of our vendors who actually imported. They were the importer record and uh they let us know about a credit that we would be receiving. Um, and we just recently were able to go through the process of getting on the portal and submitting for those that we had purchased uh directly from overseas suppliers.
▶ 1:13:11Look, the the amount of time and effort and cost that has been put on every small business in this country to recoup taxes that never should have been imposed in the first place is outrageous. We are working around the clock to press this administration to issue these reimbursements way more quickly and with way less red tape and hassle.
▶ 1:13:34You shouldn't have to have a an army of lawyers to be able to get back what is owed to you and never should have been taken from you in the first place. So I thank you all for being here today and with that I yield back. Mr. Chairman,
▶ 1:13:49gentle lady yields back. I now recognize Mr. Patronis and one of the great entrepreneur restauranters in Florida from that great state for five minutes.
▶ 1:13:59I got so excited by Adrian being here. I'm I'm telling you. Uh so, uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a this is a cool slate of folks you invited up. Uh no offense to anybody else, but I'm going to nerd out a little bit. Um my family's been in the same family restaurant business for 70 years. Uh my uncle and dad started back in 58 and and now my kids are working there. So three generations, but it's it's tough. It's tough working with family.
▶ 1:14:28Um and yeah, you're you're singing to the choir when you speak interchange fees uh and card swipe fees. Not everybody here understands what that means, but uh everybody here has a credit card. Every single one of you use a credit card when you go out to eat. But did you know that at Adrian's restaurant, every time you swipe that card, it costs him anywhere from four to five percent out of his pocket? So, you can get your miles, so you can get your rebates.
▶ 1:14:58You know, it's it's great when you use that Costco card and you get 3% back, but you probably didn't realize Adrian's the one paying for it. And so, uh, yeah, the the credit card swipe fees is something. And we're in a society now, um, back when I was in the state legislature, I I even advocated for a bill that said businesses had to take cash because I still feel like there's a an importance to having legal tender that's not, you know, some credit card managed, you know, type of doing business. But it is what it is.
▶ 1:15:27We're in a society now where credit cards make up 75% of your business or more, you know. Yeah. But that's look it's but thank God it's intoxicating the restaurant business. Where else do you get to see somebody celebrate an engagement or an anniversary or a birthday and they can go eat at anybody's restaurant the whole entire town but they decide to come to yours you know and so um it's uh it's exciting to see I I will ask some questions.
▶ 1:15:53Um I'm I'm assuming as long as your business has been around is is your dad still around?
▶ 1:16:00No sir. My dad passed away in 2023. Yeah, I lost my dad in 2020. Uh, so my dad and uncle were partners. They shared a desk, you know. Um, they worked shifts. Uh, my brothers, I was there for 30 years. And then my brother's now still, I'm the baby. Um, we still to kind of get along from keeping at each other's throats. Um, they still clock in and clock out. If you want a paycheck, you're in the building taking care of the customer. If you're not there taking care of the customer, then uh, no sense being paid.
▶ 1:16:30Um, so now since I'm in Congress, I don't get paid. So, um, so when you worked through that
▶ 1:16:39uh, did you have siblings also in the business with you?
▶ 1:16:42I did not. I did not. I was an only child. Uh, we actually, uh, congressman share the same starting year, 1950, I think I heard you say, and father started his.
▶ 1:16:51Um, no, I'm an only child. So the barrier wasn't that uh that I didn't want it and worked for it to have the opportunity to talk to my father. My father wanted me to take it over for us being a small business was just the access of how do we do this the legalities. Yeah. Watching for what tax implications we could trip into talking to accountants and uh they were all great people and professionals that helped us out through it.
▶ 1:17:17But we spent a lot of time and it got to one point where I believe we're six months in and said, "Hey, listen. The founder wants to do it. He has a buyer. It's the it happens to be his son. Let's figure out these legalities and the and the tax implications and let's get this done. We're just drug up money and bills and and further and further." So, it was u it was a good situation.
▶ 1:17:38I do know a lot of family businesses, maybe some in this panel that have uh different family members, whether it's aunts, uncles, siblings, that uh can be quite contentious and uh that's unfortunate because that's how some businesses lose
▶ 1:17:51and uh uh fall apart and families split apart. So,
▶ 1:17:54and then those are the struggles we're going through right now. Now, I've got um it was just four boys working for my dad and my uncle had no kids. Um but now all my nieces are in it. And so my mom went from having four boys to seven So now the the business is overrun with women running it now, which is great. They do a great job.
▶ 1:18:14Um but it's uh it's still the as much as I would love to um work with my family every day some days. I would love to, you know, vote them off the island uh because of of the the challenges you run into. We
▶ 1:18:28My kids right there. I don't want them to vote me off the island.
▶ 1:18:30It's okay. you don't you don't have stock yet, but maybe if he's if he takes advantage of the tax law, he'll start gifting you the maximum out every single year early on. So, um but it's uh it's just an honor to to see still people wanting to be in the restaurant business. You what you've got, you could not started today.
▶ 1:18:50And uh you know, God bless your dad for doing what he did.
▶ 1:18:53Thank you.
▶ 1:18:54I yield, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:18:57yields back. I now recognize Mr. Schmidt from the great city of Kansas for 5
▶ 1:19:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I appreciate the witnesses being here. It's been a pleasant discussion to listen to with folks sort of analytically discussing uh information doesn't always happen around this place. I was in a hearing yesterday in a different committee where I was embarrassingly between two folks shouting at each other and I carefully read my notes uh while trying to look u impartial. So, uh, I had just a handful of questions.
▶ 1:19:29I was thinking about that famous line that President Reagan used, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." Uh, and thinking about what what I would characterize is is part of the intellectual tension that I've heard discussed here. On the one hand, uh, we need certainty. We need government policy that is predictable. We need to not be whipsaw all the time. I understand that.
▶ 1:19:52And on the other hand, sort of the spirit of 1776, there are times when you just have to make bold change and you're worried a little less about the short-term uncertainty and a little more about the long-term trends and and kind of where you're headed and and those have been intention throughout our history. So, a couple of questions along that line. um regulatory reform generally.
▶ 1:20:14Uh I always love the the sort of topline back and forth debates that uh that you hear about are regulations good or bad and and the answer is they're both. Uh they often have good purpose and many of them we need. Uh and on the other hand, it's possible to have too much of a good thing and you impose compliance costs that are unnecessary and create other harm, right? And so it's a balance.
▶ 1:20:37I've pointed out before that the year I was born in 1968, the Code of Federal Regulations, which of course is the the compiled list of all of the law made by bureaucrats, made by folks with authority we've delegated to them in Congress, was about 50,000 pages. Uh today, it's about 200,000 pages. It's quadrupled in my lifetime. Uh and I guess I just invite, we'll just go down the line in the time I have.
▶ 1:21:03I'd invite you to comment on uh regulatory compliance cost and are there areas we should be looking from your vantage point where perhaps we've gone overboard and uh we could scale it back a bit free up some some uh freedom of motion on on your part
▶ 1:21:21you know the first one that comes to my mind is the affordable care act as a small business I was stretching around everywhere trying to find how does this work what can I do who what's my resource even called the um 1-800 number at the time uh what was it be going back to 2013 14 um still get confused by it. I've talked to insurance agents that I try to deal with and they're confused by it. Um recently we retired a brand that was 51 years old that we didn't mention in my testimony.
▶ 1:21:51As a result of that, I went from a from a large employer, if you can believe it or not, three restaurants in uh rural Ohio open in the evening. So, a large employer to a small employer, just that change alone was about $35,000 a month
▶ 1:22:08for virtually the same healthcare that we had prior because of status. And so, that's where I had some ongoing issues with trying to figure out the regulations on that and make sure that I'm staying compliant, make sure I'm doing the right paperwork because I do all our own payroll and things that in house and just make sure we're we're not getting ourselves in trouble. So,
▶ 1:22:27thank you very much, Mr. Freeman. Thank you for the question and the opportunity to speak to it. I I mentioned um EPA regulatory earlier. Um another thing that's a that's a challenge there um and and definitely the EPA, you know, serves its purposes, but there are challenges for small businesses too when you have red tape that you have to work through. each individual state.
▶ 1:22:52Many of them, I'd say about 37 to 38 of them have their own regulatory bodies, but sometimes they're in conflict with one another. Um, and we have to hire consultants as consultants are very expensive. It would be nice if there were greater coordination between the US EPA and the state bodies um to streamline that so we didn't have the conflicting regulations between them.
▶ 1:23:18But that would be something that would be uh incredibly beneficial to us to have one guiding uh policy for um repellent uh products.
▶ 1:23:29Thank you very much. Dimes dive but mish go more.
▶ 1:23:32Sure. Uh so in my business federal acquisition requirements is everything. And so uh my issue right now is obviously we're advancing technology uh in the sector manufacturing sector but the federal regulations slowdown with cyber security right now are incredibly burdensome. I don't think the flow down to the supply chain and small businesses was necessarily assessed in terms of how it impacts operations every day and I think we need to look at how we are slowing down the cyber security requirements with CUI and other issues.
▶ 1:23:59Thank you Miss Cool. I have two seconds. I if you want to speak fast and
▶ 1:24:03super fast procurement one more time
▶ 1:24:08procurement simplifying procurement.
▶ 1:24:11Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank the
▶ 1:24:13Gentleman y gentleman yields back. Now we have uh recognized Mr. Jack from the grace head of George. And it appears all the little Jacks are here.
▶ 1:24:21I I wish that were the case, but Mr. uh Mr. Chairman, I I am delighted to be joined today uh by my former high school basketball coach and you as the coach of our you as the coach of our congressional baseball team. I thought he could uh hopefully share some embarrassing stories about me to you. But I um I want to acknowledge coach Michael Wilder Wilder and his uh his wife Kathy and their entire family for coming. Thank you. And they're here to celebrate America's 250th birthday, as are we all this weekend.
▶ 1:24:49And to celebrate, last year the president of the United States enacted HR1, the working families tax cut. And I would like to start my line of questioning hearing from the small business owners before us as to how helpful HR1 was and continues to be to your business. So, if we could start with Mr. uh A Dornetto, I would welcome your comments and feedback. Forgive me, I'm not well verssed on that. Can you explain what those tax cuts do?
▶ 1:25:17The one big beautiful bill act.
▶ 1:25:19Thank you. Yes. Of course, I mentioned my open uh testimony, but I'll reiterate the accelerated depreciation uh where I can buy equipment u Americanmade equipment true out of St. Louis, Missouri. Um Manitto ice machines out of Mantowwalk, Wisconsin. They were great help to us in accelerating doing remodels and facelifts to our
▶ 1:25:37Wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Freeman. Uh yes sir. Um definitely when you take pass through organizations um making those tax cuts permanent um uh so that we're more in line with the CC corp type uh corporations. That's that's a big deal for us as well to um to make those tax cuts permanent.
▶ 1:25:58And if I could ask you as well, Mr. Freeman, what more could Congress be doing to make uh life easier and more affordable for small business? Um in a little bit different vein um access to capital that that is the biggest thing and has been the biggest um challenge and hurdle for us is having um access to capital sufficient for the growth that uh we have in front of us and the
▶ 1:26:22I should ask Mr. internet.
▶ 1:26:25I would actually have to agree. Again, going through uh restaurant remodel, that was one of the hardest challenges was to access capital and to uh get hands on money to reinvest in an industry that sometimes banks don't want to open their pocketbooks for.
▶ 1:26:39One of the issues I care deeply about is deregulation and would welcome thoughts from both of you gentlemen on uh deregulatory efforts, what you would like to see accomplished across that as we have a few more months left in this I welcome deregulation. Um there's some things with uh uh some regulatory things with healthcare that I would probably be more concerned with with anything else.
▶ 1:27:04Sure, Mr. Freeman. U from a regulatory perspective um under understand regulation. I would say when it goes too far and it's a hindrance to business and the progress of business, anything that can be done to uh help reduce the friction for small business would be incredibly helpful.
▶ 1:27:22Mr. Bunko Moore,
▶ 1:27:23I would say any tax policy that promotes growth is obviously critical. So, uh, the immediate expensing, um, in regards to capital investments that I'm making, the R&D tax that was done, uh, anything that puts more cash into my operations where I can then reinvest and again be innovative and and be that entrepreneur that we are is critical.
▶ 1:27:43Well, Mr. Chairman, I want to highlight just a few of the the things that I've heard from constituents in my district. specifically what we accomplished one year ago uh this Saturday. We prevented the largest tax increase in American history by making President Trump's tax cuts permanent, saving the average American family from a $1,700 tax increase. We delivered the largest tax cut in American history for working and middle class Americans, including an estimated 15% tax cut for Americans earning between $30,000 and $80,000 annually.
▶ 1:28:11We preserve the double standard deduction for more than 90% of taxpayers, strengthened the child tax credit, and eliminated taxes on tips, taxes on overtime, so hardworking Americans can keep more of what they earn. Also want to note specifically in my home state of Georgia, uh, since HR1 became law, manufacturers have announced billions of dollars in new investments, not just across the country, but also in my state, including new steel mills, pharmaceutical facilities, battery plants, and advanced manufacturing projects.
▶ 1:28:37In my home state of Georgia specifically, companies have announced $223 million rare earth magnet manufacturing facility and a $400 million poultry processing plant, which means a lot to our farmers, means a lot to the a community in Georgia. So for those uh actions and stories that I've heard from my district, I'm very grateful. I uh I wish you all well this weekend. Hope you're able to enjoy the festivities. And Mr. Chairman, I applaud you for hosting uh this committee hearing.
▶ 1:29:02I hope 250 years from now, people are looking back to our transcript and uh enjoying the conversation we had as our country celebrates its 500th year anniversary 250 years from Saturday. I yield back.
▶ 1:29:12Three of us have already committed to be here 250 years. Gentleman yields back. And uh now before we close uh I have another question as does the ranking member have a question. Uh so let me say this. Each of you is part of a multi-generational business or has got the potential to have one and pass one down to generations. And my business back in Texas, we know I'm second generation. Third generation is running it and fourth generation is coming down on Saturday.
▶ 1:29:42Uh so we're pretty excited about that. But and I was glad to see the federal income tax exemption uh go from 15 million per person to 30 million per couple under the working tax cuts. So what does that you know, we talk about always we're saving the family farm. We're doing this and that, but it's not the family farm we're saving. It's just all businesses by being able to pass this down without having to pay taxes. So, what does this change mean to you? And how does it impact your business to pass your business on to the next generation? Maybe each one of you can answer that.
▶ 1:30:13Very grateful for the change. It's greatly impactful. Um, it'll help in our situation. Hopefully, Mr. chairman. I'll be living many more years to come, but I hope that that stays that level or possibly increases and other vehicles to help out in passing a family business down to the next generation.
▶ 1:30:33Yes, sir. As as a founder of our our companies, um one thing that would be meaningful for us is um the ability to to tweak what has been put into place. Um for us if you are uh a CC corp there is the founder discount um which is significant when there's any sort of transaction for the company um but we were established originally as an S corp um so not eligible for that reason so if it could be expanded um to
▶ 1:31:03S corps that later became CC corps which we did that would be very meaningful for for our particular situation
▶ 1:31:12I I think in my industry the unpredictability is the only thing that is predictable. Uh so any decisions that are made that can again provide stability uh is critical for me. Uh anything that we can do to invest and reinvest not only in my company but regional manufacturing and national manufacturing is just uh something that is I'm incredibly passionate about.
▶ 1:31:35Um, and so I want to make sure that uh when you're making decisions uh that they're based on entrepreneurship and innovation and risk mitigation and how do we create the best manufacturing companies um in this next generation and and more importantly how do we stay relevant with the pace at which technology is moving? Uh make sure that we're looking at steps that can be made so that again we can continue to pass on our companies and keep them private. Right?
▶ 1:32:01That's important to me personally uh that my sons are able to maintain private ownership and that it maintains a manufacturing company not a financial company. Uh I think that's uh something we have to focus on.
▶ 1:32:12Okay, Miss Ghoul.
▶ 1:32:14Yeah, for me it's similar. Um you know we haven't been able to explore all the benefits. I mean, definitely have to engage my accountant and my lawyer on that. And similarly, we're an escorp. So, there's definitely uh opportunity or additional calls for me to figure out how to do this. And I'll echo what my witnesses, my fellow witnesses have mentioned. When major legislation like this is passed and we aren't looking at small businesses and seeking their input in advance, we have to catch up.
▶ 1:32:41So, as long as we're investing the energy to ensure we have the resources to hire, to invest over the long haul, to think about the next generation, my own children, 22 and 24, how they can come into the business, all these pieces take time to plan.
▶ 1:32:56All right, I yield back uh to the ranking member
▶ 1:33:00and I thank the chairman for an opportunity to to go a little deeper. Thank you all again um for your time. I have quick observation and then a quick question I hope. Uh, one is it seems clear access to capital, huge issue. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I've heard it over and over again from from this panel and I I couldn't agree more.
▶ 1:33:17Which is why I'm concerned about a change that the SBA made back in February of 26 around lending policies that would bar all small businesses with any amount of ownership by non-citizens lawfully in the US from participating in the flagship 7A and 504 CDC lending programs. That change was subsequently extended to the shity bond and microloan programs. And so my concern is as we're talking about access to capital.
▶ 1:33:43Uh we are affirmatively taking away access to capital through through some of these changes. And so um since I didn't have time before, just wanted to add to the record again and ask unanimous consent to put a letter of concern that that members from the committee have shared. Uh Mr. Chairman,
▶ 1:33:58thank you. And just would re reiterate that um I hope that we can do something on that issue. I think it's a very specific tangible way um that we can make access to capital available for more people and would welcome uh you all in that work. Um, my question is really around housing. Um, about sort of the cost of housing generally. Uh, Mishabano Moore, I know that you spoke specifically about the Long Island Press.
▶ 1:34:21If others want to weigh in as well, but just sort of talking about, can you talk briefly about sort of the impact you're seeing for employees as the cost of housing uh, for starter homes is now over a million dollars in many places. People are turning 40 before they can buy their first home. Just what you're seeing on on that
▶ 1:34:37Sure. and Long Island certainly uh is facing a lot of housing issues. Uh so I will say that I've been working with local legislation on whether there can be an employee employer um effort to where we can somehow assist with their down payment. I think that's something that had been done years ago in Long Island. I'd love to see that um in our region and then broadly um as well because I think they they do need assistance and I think that's uh owning a home is an American dream that everyone should have before they're 50.
▶ 1:35:06So, um, you know, it's something and and when I'm looking at obviously the operations of my company, I am concerned about, um, all the costs that my employees are trying to carry and obviously trying to maintain my workforce. It is hard to attract people to Long Island. It is hard to attract people to New York because of the cost of living. Um, so I think we need to be creative in the way that we can somehow work with families and uh, government and private businesses to figure out if we can find a solution with all those parties involved.
▶ 1:35:36I appreciate that. I saw a lot of head shaking. So, I'll in the interest of time, I'll take that as a agreement. Uh I'd love to have this committee continue to engage with you and others about to the extent it's in our purview finding those kinds of um opportunities to do partnerships with business to make home ownership more real. Um I I will just note as I conclude, very proud of the ways in which this Congress passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan housing package.
▶ 1:36:00probably the only major item of significance um that I've seen be that kind of bipartisan approach that overwhelmingly addresses cost of living and some of those issues without some of the the back and forth or the concerns that we've had. There are some provisions, for example, in the reconciliation package that I actually supported like the no tax on tips, like the no tax on social security, um like the depreciation. There are other elements I think are problematic for Americans and for small business.
▶ 1:36:29Um, but this was legislation that was overwhelmingly bipartisan, will have the impact of lowering costs. I think it's the model for a way forward. It's why I really appreciate the partnership I've had with the chairman in passing out some bipartisan legislation from this committee. I echo uh Representative Tran sentiments. We hope to see the Senate uh move on them. Um, it's not a big yawn, as the president said. I think it's important. It's impactful. And I hope that we can keep working with all of you to keep making progress on those legislation. And I again thank you for the time and I yield back. Jim, you back.
▶ 1:36:59I got three of my fellow congressman here. Do you all have about a one minute question real quick or
▶ 1:37:05uh I think all I want to plug, Mr. uh chairman, is a very special opportunity for our guests here. Um just because uh the American 250 display is going to be in the Rayburn room, especially for the little guys. That's at 1:30 to 3:30. We're going to have James Madison's copy of the Federalist. We're have the second printing of the Declaration of Independence and we're have an original letter from Thomas Jefferson celebrating the 50th anniversary of our country.
▶ 1:37:31So, anybody in the room go stop at the RA room is right across from the uh the House chamber.
▶ 1:37:38Congressman Schmidt, Mr. Chairman, just appreciate the witnesses.
▶ 1:37:42Congressman Jack
▶ 1:37:43echo Mr. Smith. Thank you.
▶ 1:37:46All right. I'd like to thank our witnesses for their testimony and for appearing before us today. It's been a great hearing and uh we always like to say that you see a lot of hearings on TV, some go different directions. Uh this committee here, we really we really do work hard to be bipartisan and it shows what we get out of here and I appreciate all the members. And without objection, members have five legislative days to submit additional materials and written questions from the witnesses to the chair which will be forwarded to the witnesses. I ask the witnesses to please do that promptly.
▶ 1:38:14If there's no further events without objection, the committee is adjourned. Thank you.
▶ 1:38:18Thank you all.