Small Business

As a small business owner, I take great umbrage at the idea that government helps small business ("Government helps small business? Absolutely," July 20). Yes, government does everything your letter writer says, but we taxpayers are the ones who pay the bill. Small businesses are the engine that drives the economy, not government. Government does not create, it only takes. I do not know where the letter writer gets his information, but it sounds like it's straight from the Democratic Party talking points.

President Barack Obama said over the weekend at a Virginia campaign speech that private businesses are successful largely because of the government's support. This statement is absolutely ridiculous. It's pretty clear that President Obama has never owned a business. I am a small business owner, and I took a major risk starting my company three years ago. I didn't rely on any bank loans, as I financed the start-up costs on my own. It required a tremendous amount of personal sacrifice, hard work and sleepless nights to get my business off the ground.

According to President Barack Obama, entrepreneurs and small business owners cannot take credit for their inventions or business success because their accomplishments were only made possible by the government's investments in infrastructure. Is this a relatively recent development, or did it also apply to earlier inventors such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford?  I guess Franklin and Edison were inspired to discover and harness electricity by all of those telephone poles installed by the government that were going unused.

A senior White House adviser outlined President Barack Obama's initiatives to make college more affordable and provide assistance to small businesses during an African-American policy forum at Morgan State University on Friday. Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, discussed ways the president is trying to address concerns in African-American communities and conveyed his support for historically black colleges and universities. The White House has hosted similar sessions around the country.

Baltimore City's plan to close 128 liquor stores is an incredibly misguided decision ("City targets liquor stores," June 18). While the city's leaders should be commended for finding ways to lessen crime, their solution does little more than rob 128 small business owners of their livelihood. Are there liquor stores that exacerbate crime and produce other problems in their neighborhoods? Absolutely. Are there 128 such establishments? Absolutely not. Liquor stores do not cause crime, nor does their existence in poor neighborhoods (which count for the resounding majority of neighborhoods where closures are intended)

The Carroll County Farmer's Market marked its 42nd anniversary Saturday with a bounty of seasonal fruits and vegetables, baked goods, fresh flowers, handmade crafts, even emu products. Because it was a party, customers were treated to punch and cake. The market, which opens from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through Sept. 1, includes a cafeteria serving breakfast and lunch. Each week features a different demonstration, and Master Gardeners are always in attendance to offer advice on planting and growing problems.

Small businesses needing loans should think small — bankwise, that is. That's the finding of a new Internet tool that grades banks on their small-business lending. Banking Grades, which measures loans in relation to deposits, gives As and Bs to many community banks but Ds or worse to some banking behemoths. In Maryland, for instance, M&T Bank received a C — one of the best grades for a larger bank — while SunTrust and PNC received Ds. Bank of America got an F. Ouch!

As law firms across the country cut back, Offit Kurman has grown. Rapidly. The firm, founded in Towson 25 years ago, doubled its revenue from 2008 to 2011 — a period that included the worst-in-decades recession — and added dozens of employees as it expanded its reach across the Mid-Atlantic. Now Offit Kurman employs about 170 people and expects to keep growing, said Ted Offit, managing principal of the firm and one of its founders. A lawyer and certified public accountant, Offit, 56, lives in the Glyndon area of Baltimore County with his wife, Risa.

Your recent editorial "Doing better than 'fine'" (June 12) must be a joke. Every economic metric shows the economy is in serious trouble. Small businesses are doing much worse than anticipated almost four years after the start of the Great Recession, and there's no recovery in sight. I should know, because I am a small business owner, and I am in contact with other small business owners on a regular basis. We are not doing "fine," we and our employees are struggling to survive in a business climate that has already claimed the existence of more businesses both large and small than ever before.

The grim May employment report, only 69,000 nonfarm jobs, is the third consecutive subpar tally, replete with downward revisions for the two prior months. It's a devastating number for the American economy. The Obama "Keynesian" government-spending model has proved to be a complete failure. President Barack Obama doesn't seem to understand businesses create jobs. And firms have to be profitable in order to hire. Yet the president's rhetoric is degrading the importance of profits.