Alex Fees: I'm Alex Fees on Small Business Television. We are coming to you from Cleveland Ohio at the 2008 COSE Small Business Conference. COSE, that’s the Council on Smaller Enterprises. And joining me here now is Keith Ashmus. Keith, how are you? Good to meet your sir.
Keith Ashmus: Good morning Alex.
Alex Fees: Keith is the chair elect of the NSBA, the National Small Business Association.
Keith Ashmus: That’s right.
Alex Fees: Did I do that justice?
Keith Ashmus: You did it perfectly.
Alex Fees: Keith, tell me about your organization’s participation in COSE.
Keith Ashmus: The NSPA is the oldest national organization devoted to small business and it’s composed of individual members and organizational members and COSE is an organizational member along with small business association in Michigan, small business association of New England, small business California and SMC Councils of Pittsburg and a number of other statewide or local organizations.
Alex Fees: Okay. But what are the issues for you now? We talked about this briefly with the $700 billion bill out on Wall street, how does that affect small business, probably not the way you like for it too.
Keith Ashmus: That’s right the philosophy is more trickled down than actual targeted help for small business. If the congress have taken less than one-tenth of 1% of that $700 billion and put it into the SBA, the Small Business Administration to support loans to small businesses, we could have completely restored all of funding that’s been lost over the past several years in the 78 loan program for example.
So, if someone had thought about small business, to target that we would had been much better off and the small business community would be able to continue to create those jobs that we need to have.
Alex Fees: Right and it’s just a matter of competing for that attention. Now, Keith I know that’s a part of COSE’s mission is government and regulatory access. You're sort of working arm and arm with them. Strictly in this economy how do you go about that now with the $700 billion already going to major corporations, how do you go about making sure that in the future from this point forward small business is represented?
Keith Ashmus: Well, we’re not done I mean there's another round of stimulus coming on. Senator Obama has specifically indicated support for assistance to the SBA or to increase the amount that goes to the SBA for small businesses. So, we’re working to make sure that small business gets to the point where it’s a front of the mind concept for Canada that surround the country and therefore they’ll understand that giving money to small business really maximizes and multiplies its effect as we create jobs.
Alex Fees: Keith you heard Michael Simon this morning, are you ready to open a restaurant?
Keith Ashmus: I don’t know. I remember the story about how to make a million dollars in a restaurant business and that start with 10 million. I'm not sure that I have that passion for cooking food, I have the passion for eating it so I’ll patronize him.
Alex Fees: And according to him it’s about the passion, whatever you're doing it all starts with the passion.
Keith Ashmus: And we’re passionate at my firm about taking care of companies and make sure they stay at a legal trouble so that’s why we started in 2000 the legal and large firm start as small one.
Alex Fees: Well Keith, what else do you hope like comes out of some of the members for COSE 2008 at this conference?
Keith Ashmus: Well, I think we’re looking at making sure that people were energized here and as you can see, there's 1400 or so small business people that are here in this conference to make sure that they're energize to talk to their representatives and their candidates about things that are important to them. The employee free choice act, healthcare reform, help for small businesses and access to capital so that we can take a diffused nature of small business and put it together and put it to one cohesive force that really enables us to help the country out of this trouble that we’re now.
Alex Fees: All right good deal. Keith Ashmus. Keith, thank you very much.
Keith Ashmus: My pleasure thank you.
Alex Fees: He is Keith Ashmus, he is the chair elect of the NSBA, the National Small Business Association.
I'm Alex Fees, you're watching Small Business Television, we’re coming here from COSE 2008, The Council of Smaller Enterprises, small only in name.
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