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Heart And Soul
updated: Jun 22, 2009, 8:09 AM

In a recent press release, Lois Capps said, "Small businesses are the heart and soul of our local economy."

What do you think about this statement and how it relates to the future of the local economy?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

EDONE	2009-06-22 10:04 AM
People! The topic here is ... Is local business the heart and soul of the local economy. Please keep your discussion on that topic.
COMMENT 30546	2009-06-22 11:06 AM
Just what is a local business anyway? If a couple from Ohio open a one-of-a-kind shop on State St, do we can that "local" if all of the profits go to an Ohioan? If a native Santa Barbaran opens a Subway, isn't that "local"? I think there is too much paranoia out there when it comes to "local" businesses. As far as it affects our economy, to buy "local" means to buy in and around Santa Barbara. Don't drive down to Ventura. And don't complain when Target wants to open a store in town. Tax revenue is tax revenue.
COMMENT 30548	2009-06-22 11:55 AM
Good point Mesadude. I think the day of the brick and mortar 'small business' is for the most part over. The new place small business can succeed is online. Thanks to the increase in sales tax many (like me) have now turned to the internet for shopping. When not online, you'll find me at the bigbox (but local) Costco, Home Depot, CVS, or Albertsons, and occasionally Lazy Acres. Is LA the type of small business Capps is referring to?
EDONE	2009-06-22 01:44 PM
NEW RULE ON THE EDHAT COMMENTS BOARD Comments using the names, "Bush" "Obama" "Cheney" "Biden", etc will be deleted. If you would like to discuss these matters, please go to another non-local website.
SBCARDINAL	2009-06-22 02:51 PM
Thank you so much for the new policy. I didn't think I could like Edhat more than I do, but you just made that possible.
COMMENT 30553	2009-06-22 02:57 PM
I like the new policy, and you might add a link to the Indy article as there is information on the loan program which might be of interest to local business.
COMMENT 30555	2009-06-22 03:14 PM
I work at a company that has been "local" since 1963. The grandson of the original owner now owns and runs the place. I am happy that not everyone in our community is so willing to jump on the "big box" train. It is pretty obvious what is meant by "local small businesses". No, a couple from Ohio, if still living in Ohio, is not local. Sorry. Chucks vs. Ruth's Chris..... Craft Village vs. Michael's . .... Goleta Sports vs. Sports Authority. There is still value in local small businesses.
GOLFERRW	2009-06-22 03:47 PM
Local can also mean local people working at the Ruth's Chris, Michael's and Sports Authority. Local business can be any business big or small, locally owned or not employing local people. Perfect example, ComUSA. Went out of business. Local people lost their jobs. Another is Circut City. All lost their jobs. Be careful how you lump these. Any business in SB helps SB economy and any job loss hurts the SB economy.
COMMENT 30558	2009-06-22 04:48 PM
Actually Lois Capps did not mention "local" businesses but "small" businesses. You can be a national chain and be a small business.
COMMENT 30563	2009-06-22 05:43 PM
Also, some owners of franchises, such as Subway, are owned by local business owners. I think Louis was referring to small, local businesses. They often go hand-in-hand.
COMMENT 30564	2009-06-22 05:44 PM
Sorry for the mis-spell Lois!
COMMENT 30568	2009-06-22 09:28 PM
This statement is so generic and undefined that it is meaningless. However, she does have a point in that the largest employers in 2004 were mostly government, which should really count as a drag on the economy in toto. And those large companies that are still here are dependent on government payments of one sort or another. UC Santa Barbara - 9501 Vandenberg - 4782 County - 4214 SB school district - 2968 Cottage - 2518 City College - 2360 Raytheon - 1633 Actually, her statement is an indictment of the policies of the area. It isn't that small employers are the "heart and soul" - it is that they are the only ones that can survive in the acidic no-growth soil of Santa Barbara. Aside from government and retail, no large employer in a mature industry could sanely set up shop here. You can't be competitive and pay employees enough to live here, and you certainly can't attract talent from outside the state, despite the great weather. That's why when local businesses reach a certain size, you see them get up and move out of state, or at least down to Oxnard.
COMMENT 30611	2009-06-23 11:07 AM
They may be the heart and soul, but I don't know if they're the wallet....
COMMENT 30612	2009-06-23 11:09 AM
Oh good grief, Crank: Please tell me how UCSB and Vandenbergsare drags on the economy "in toto"? Sounds like ideology trumping reality.
COMMENT 30623	2009-06-23 12:30 PM
I hear capps,boxer,fienstien and pelosi say that small biz is the heart of the biz world. If they believe what they say why do they constantly vote against anything that will promote a positive business climate. I don't like to speak in generalities but, all four of them are are full of B.S. They don't walk their talk. California has become the worst state in the US to do business. I am taking my company out of state solely because of their business policies.
COMMENT 30626	2009-06-23 01:03 PM
Blah blah blah blah, the Democrats are doing whatever they can to crush business. Wah wah. The 40 hour week is anti-business. Health benefits are anti-business. Buh bye. I hear southeast Asia is a great place to set up shop -- they still let you exploit people for 50 cents per hour there.
COMMENT 30627	2009-06-23 01:09 PM
JAMESCO - Call me old school and cranky, but please give people the respect of capitalizing their names, even if they are full of "B.S." (which for some reason does seem to you to deserve caps.)
COMMENT 30632	2009-06-23 03:51 PM
What I meant was that while government run entities like Vandenburg and UCSB may be a plus for the local economy, they are really just redistributing money from the rest of the state and country. Neither of them can really be considered a business, even though both of them are the largest employers in the area.
COMMENT 30634	2009-06-23 04:32 PM
Uh huh. Great macro-analysis there.
COMMENT 30641	2009-06-23 07:41 PM
Perhaps more to Cranks point in a different direction Alle, is that the gov't paid agencies in this town average 65K a year and the county average is 45K ayear. The result is that they are able to crowd out and run up the price of housing in this town making it difficult if not impossible for small and medium biz to florish here.   Add to that the now exposed Non-Profits that overpay themselves and you have a bought community which is exacerbated by the employee unions buying out the vote...
COMMENT 30650	2009-06-23 09:35 PM
I don't understand why anybody would want to shop on State Street anymore. One could go to Anytown, USA to find the identical shopping experience. When I moved here in 1970 you could park on State Street and shop any number of small businesses up and down it. Our shop is the oldest small business on the 700 block of State Street --28 1/2 years. We have watched them open and close, sorry to say. It is a real loss.
COMMENT 30651	2009-06-23 10:32 PM
Uh huh. Nice spin, SA1. All pretty much lies, but nice spin.
COMMENT 30655	2009-06-24 12:55 AM
And, we are somehow supposed to listen to Mz Capps? She lost us when she put it out there that she expects us to gift her daughter with her Congressional seat when she retires on her big, fat taxpayer paid pension and benefits. Hello? Who said out of touch? RIGHT ON! When did she become Queen Capps? She actually thinks her title is inherited? Didn't we fight a Revolution to get rid of that royalty malarkey?
COMMENT 30666	2009-06-24 08:47 AM
Tink, No caps was unintentional, just poor email manners. Although, I have no respect senators and congress woman who won't respond to their constituency, or if they do respond it's with a condescending form letter or email explaining we are just a little to ignorant to understand an issue requiring their vote.

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