ARTICLE
By Tony Iannelli Special to The Morning Call Tony Iannelli: Burdens on small business grow every day When it was suggested that I write a weekly column for The Morning Call's new website Business Cycle, I was both excited and hesitant. I don't consider myself anywhere near worthy of being on the same pages of the many first-class journalists who have been churning out news on a daily basis at the Call. I've read their stories daily literally for decades. But the news business is ever-changing and — having spent my entire professional life both in the private and public sectors in the Lehigh Valley — maybe I have something to offer. I do love the Valley, I do love business, I do love the people and after almost 20 years at the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, I've learned a lot about what makes the Valley's business universe tick. And it never ceases to amaze me how many varied ways entrepreneurs find to earn a living. I'm referring to both businesses large and small. Everything from "mom and pop" startups to major corporations that now employ hundreds and even thousands of hard-working people of the Lehigh Valley. These are people who get up every day with zero guarantee that their business will be profitable or even exist in the future. People who absorb the latest regulation or "executive action" thrown at them from some well-intentioned governmental policy that changes the playing field all too often. Maybe it's the Affordable Care Act, or the impending doubling of the overtime exempt employee baseline, a potential huge minimum wage increase or whatever else is thrown at them on a regular basis. A prime example is one of my favorites: More governmental scrutiny for our smaller neighborhood community banks even though the problems were caused by much larger institutions with the dollars to shoulder the increased costs, given their failure to follow rules. Unfortunately the knee-jerk governmental reaction lumps ALL banks into one basket. Don't get me wrong. In talking to these people, I find they still love their country, they appreciate their employees and they want to do the "right thing." They give back (in many cases in a huge way) to their communities, but the burdens seem to grow every day with almost reckless abandon. I ask the question often of them: "How much is too much?" I don't know how or why business seems to be losing its place as the recognized engine of our economy in many of our political leaders' minds. So, before I go to far with the "woe-is-me" mantra, let me say this, these people are tough, they're resilient, they're white, black, Hispanic, LGBT, first generation immigrants, third-generation legacy owners and on and on, ALL seeking the American dream. They know this is still the best country on the planet to achieve financial success and everyone has a chance to obtain it. Let's hope the future will nurture these entrepreneurs and we don't lose this most important piece of Americana! Tony Iannelli is president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. His column appears weekly on the Business Cycle. He can be reached at tonyi@lvchamber.org. Read the full article here.