Entrepreneurs´s Journal


March / April 2004
Get Up, Stand Up
By Emily McHugh

In these ambiguous times one thing that is certain is that we can no longer afford to take anything for granted.  We all would agree that in a democracy one of our most cherished tenets is to freely express ourselves – what we think, what we wear, and what we want to say.  Those “inalienable rights” that we often assume will never go away can only remain inalienable if they are continually defended against invaders lurking in the wings.

As entrepreneurs and business owners, we are awesomely aware of the vagaries of change that can turn our business lives upside down. Our businesses are intertwined with the economic and political climate, whether we like it or not.  Therefore, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and expect “someone else” to defend what we expect to always be there.  Many of us may conclude that there are enough protestors for one cause or another that we do not have to get directly involved.  But that would be a mistake.

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend “Albany Day” in Albany, New York to advocate in support of the New York Public Library  (NYPL) (www.nypl.org).  At first I thought why would I get up at 4:30 in the morning, get on a bus for over three hours with a group of total strangers, go to a strange town, and run the risk of getting stuck in an upstate blizzard?  Then it hit me.  Because I like to read!  I like to go to the library!  Well, because the library has always been there, and anything that jeopardizes access to it must be defended.  I considered it a rare privilege, an honor, to have been invited.  It was my civic duty, the absolute least that I could do.  During Albany Day, it was amazing to see democracy in action.  On that snowy day people came undeterred from all over the state in droves to support various causes.  When I asked one of the librarians, who has been coming to Albany for over 20 years, what would happen if the library did not come to Albany, he said we would not want to risk it, so we always come, to make sure our message is heard (to contact New York State legislators, visit www.assembly.state.ny.us).

I was selected as an example of someone who directly benefited from the hard work of the library system.  The NYPL wanted me to share my story with state legislators so as to encourage them to continue to support the library and to not reduce the library’s budget.

The NYPL provides excellent resources for small businesses doing research on how to grow or start a business.  The Science, Business, and Industry Library (SIBL), one of the NYPL research libraries, houses databases as well as a satellite office of the Small Business Association (SBA) sponsored SCORE office that provides free counseling for businesses.  When I was starting my business I would spend endless hours at SIBL conducting research.  It was from my research at SIBL that I found our first manufacturer. As a result, we were able to make our first bags that we sold to our first store in New York.  This generated sales tax dollars that went right back to replenish the source of funding for institutions such as libraries.  I went to Albany to let our legislators know that small businesses produce big results; hence, tax dollars invested in the NYPL is an investment that yields real returns.

Another institution in the line of budgetary fire is the Micro-loan Program sponsored by the SBA (www.sba.gov).  This program provides loans of up to $35,000 to start-ups who would not gain access to start-up capital otherwise.  This program is also dear to my entrepreneurial heart as it was the first form of financing my company received when we were starting the business.  These funds enabled us to manufacture our first samples and financed participation in our first trade show.

Access to capital, just as access to knowledge, must be vehemently defended. When I received the letter from my local micro-lending institution, the Greater Newark Business Development Consortium, of the proposals afoot in Washington to eliminate the Micro-loan Program, I reached for my Congressional Directory to find out who in Washington should be hearing from me.  I also went online to research the various discussions regarding this issue and to visit the websites of our legislators at www.house.gov.

I then went specifically to the Small Business Committee of the House of Representatives to identify the names of congressmen and congresswomen, as well as senators that should be contacted who would have direct impact on this topic.  At the end of the day, I may never know what direct impact my blitzkrieg of emails to Washington or my trip to Albany will have, but as the librarian said, it is not worth the risk to not participate.

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