A local success + Happy Hardware Day Nov. 20!

Who's got the cheapest lumber in town? The cheapest mortar?

Think the best prices are way out at Lowe's? 

Think again. 

Shuman-Owens Supply Co., located just 5 minutes from downtown Columbia, SC, is a brick's throw from the S.C. State Fair Grounds and Gamecock Stadium.

And it's one of the last independent, locally-owned hardware stores in Columbia.








Despite the slump in the building trades and consumer flight to suburban big box retailers, this Shop Road standard is somehow creaming the big box retailers. How are they managing to succeed in such a tough climate?

Buy SC Local Success Spotlight:

 
Local Hardware Store Hammers the Big Box

What is this small business doing right?

"Well, for starters," says local stonemason Jefferson Hubbell, "Shuman-Owens is cheaper than Lowe's for just about everything I need on the job."

He gives an example: "If you need a 75 lb. bag of mortar for a masonry job," he notes, "Shuman-Owens will charge you $8, while a smaller, 70-pound bag will cost you $10 at Lowe's.

This really makes a difference when you're in a business that requires hundreds of bags of mortar per year."

(Choosing this local hardware store for just 10 bags of mortar per week for a year would indeed save you over $1000.

Not exactly chump change.)


The low prices don't quit on building materials, even as a project scales upwards.

"If your client needs a million dollars' worth of western cedar timber for his  post-and-beam hunting lodge," Hubbell adds, "Shuman-Owens will source it for less per board foot than pretty much any competitor in the Southeast."

A true family-run business

"The service makes a big difference for me," says Hubbell. "It's a family-run business."

""I've been going into Shuman-Owens for near 20 years, and it feels good. We know each other." 

While there are certainly a fair share of friendly, knowledgeable staff working at big box retailers like Lowe's, it's hard to beat the personal level of service that a local, independently-owned business can provide.

It's up to consumers to support these local businesses by voting with your hardware dollars. 

Read reporter Kristy Eppley Rupon's recent story in The State, "Hammered: Hardware stores pushed out by big-box retailers, economy" 

http://www.thestate.com/2010/08/23/1429381/hammered-hardware-stores-pushed.html#ixzz13200kYHa

And then take action!

1. Take your free spot in the new Buy SC directory of locally owned small businesses:

Sign up here: http://www.buysc.org

2. Fly the Buy SC badge on your website, Facebook fan page, etc., and ask us for a Buy SC sticker -- just like the one you see below on the front door of Shuman-Owens!

3. Talk up Happy Hardware Day, Saturday, Nov. 20! It's the first installment of our new "Local Has It" action campaign series here at the nonprofit SC Small Business Chamber, and we're really excited.

Shuman-Owens flies the Buy SC badge!

HAPPY HARDWARE DAY!

On Saturday, November 20, 2010, go and shop at independent, locally owned hardware stores throughout South Carolina. Spread the word!

You can print the Happy Hardware Day poster below, upload it to your website and Facebook, and pass on this call to action to your own social networks. It's up to all of us!

Spread the word! Let's Buy SC!

Huge thanks to the talented graphic designer Karen Williford, who designed the Happy Hardware Day poster *and* the Buy SC logo for the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce.

Wake up call for business owners -- big and small

Very interesting piece by financial columnist James Surowiecki, excerpted from The New Yorker:

ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPH NIEMANN 

(reposted with respect from The New Yorker)

"In the nineteen-eighties, a new kind of chain store came to dominate American shopping: the “category killer.” These stores killed off all competition in a category by stocking a near-endless variety of products at prices that small retailers couldn’t match. Across America, independent stores went out of business, and the suburban landscape became freckled with Toys R Us, CompUSA, and Home Depot superstores. 

But the category killers’ reign turned out to be more fragile than expected. In the past decade, CompUSA and Circuit City have disappeared. Toys R Us has struggled to stay afloat, and Barnes & Noble is in the midst of a boardroom battle prompted by financial woes. And, last month, Blockbuster finally admitted the inevitable and declared Chapter 11."

"The obvious reason for all this is the Internet; Blockbuster’s demise, for one, was inextricably linked to the success of Netflix. But this raises a deeper question: why didn’t the category killers colonize the Web the way they colonized suburbia? That was what pundits expected. Companies like Blockbuster, the argument went, had customer expertise, sophisticated inventory management, and strong brands. And, unlike the new Internet companies, they’d be able to offer customers both e-commerce and physical stores—“clicks and mortar. It seemed like the perfect combination..." (Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/10/18/101018ta_talk_surowiecki#ixzz12Alkr2YC)

While the demise of any business is not good news for a community, this turn of events does raise some good questions for small business owners.

What are *you* doing to prepare your small business for the ongoing technological shifts in the way our culture buys and sells?

Part of our mission here at the nonprofit South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce is to help SC's small business community grow and maximize ROI.



Two simple action items for you:

1. Join our free BuySC online business directory at http://www.buysc.org!

2. Come to our next small business seminar!
 


BuySC Micro-Conference: 
5 Steps To Business Freedom with Keith Spiro

Wednesday, November 10
6:00pm - 8:00pm

Olympia Room, Second Floor of the 701 Whaley Building

701 Whaley Street

Columbia, SC, 29201

Price: Free for paying SCSBCC members / $5 Basic Members (free membership) /$10 for non-members. 

Become a member for free, and save $5!

Refreshments and hors d'oeuvres for the reception will be provided courtesy of our event sponsor: 

Mac's On Main!

Please register at www.buysc.eventbrite.com

 

To learn more about SCSBCC membership, please go to http://www.scsbc.org/membership

About the Lecture:

Why do 90% of businesses fail within the first 10 years?

* 78% lack a solid business plan
* 73% are being overly optimistic about sales
* 77% are not pricing their products or services properly
* 70% don't recognize or ignore their weaknesses and don't seek help

Turn those threats to your company into business freedom. Come learn concrete practical ways to steer clear and head toward freedom in your business.

About the SCSBCC:

The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit advocacy organization representing the general interests of small business.

For more information please go to www.scsbc.org, www.buysc.org or contact Stephanie Lombardo, Membership Coordinator at 803-252-5733 / Stephanie@scsbc.org

July News and Updates

In This Issue:

•  Wall Street Reform Passes
•  Next Up: Small Business Lending Crisis
•  SCE&G Rate Hike Cut 49%
•  Helping Small Business Conserve Energy
•  Get On Board the “BuySC” Campaign
•  Upcoming Health Care Forums In Marlboro & Dillon Counties
•  9.8% Drop in WC Costs Approved
•  Looking for Answers from Gubernatorial Candidates
•  SCSBCC Partners with 3 National Biz Organizations

Wall Street Reform Passes

The U.S. Senate has given final approval to a major financial reform bill that was needed to address the greed on Wall Street and within other financial institutions. This greed led to the nation’s worst recession in our lifetimes and dried up loans and lines of credit for small businesses. Read a summary of the bill here. 


The S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBC) has vigorously supported Wall Street reform as a prerequisite for getting our economy back on its feet. A strong and successful push-back against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which opposed reform, was needed to demonstrate that big business did not speak for small business. Read Frank Knapp’s blog on this issue. You can also view a video of his remarks at an April press conference held at the U.S. Capitol here.


Next Up: Small Business Lending Crisis: Call Graham & DeMint

Graham

With Wall Street reform under our belt, the SCSBC is turning to the small business lending crisis. Since March, the SCSBC has been calling on Congress to take action to spur loans and lines of credit to small business. 

In April, SCSBC president Frank Knapp led a delegation of other national business organizations to the halls of Congress for meetings on this issue. 

The message: small businesses will grow us out of the recession just as we did in the last three recoveries, but we need access to capital to hire the new employees to make this happen.

DeMint

The cries of small businesses have now been heard, and the U.S. Senate is preparing to debate the “Small Business Jobs Act” filed by Senators Baucus and Landrieu. Click here to read a complete summary of this bill. 

This bill has many provisions that will be beneficial to the financial health of small businesses. Three extremely important benefits would be: 

1. The creation of a Small Business Lending Fund that will both enable and encourage small financial institutions to make more small business loans.

2. An increase in SBA loan limits.
 
3. Allow small business owners to deduct the cost of health insurance for themselves and their family members in the calculation of their self-employment tax.
 
Contact South Carolina Senators Lindsey Graham (202-224-5972) and Jim DeMint (202-224-6121). 

Ask them to support the “Small Business Jobs Act.” Also ask them to support amendment S.A.4443 by Senator Udall; it will help unleash the ability of the nation’s credit unions to make more small business loans at no cost to the taxpayer. It would do this simply by increasing the Credit Union Member Business Lending Cap from 12.25% to 25% of a credit union’s assets.

Call Graham and DeMint today!


SCE&G Rate Hike Cut 49%

Small business customers of SCE&G are breathing a little easier now that their 9.52% electric rate hike request has been nearly cut in half to 4.88% by the S.C. Public Service Commission. That will be over $96 million dollars a year less in utility payments across the board. The president of the SCSBC, Frank Knapp, intervened in the rate hearing and played an instrumental role in reducing the rate hike. Read his blog explaining how it came about and what extra benefits he was able to get for small businesses.  The rate increase will phase in over three years. Small business customers of SCE&G will see a 1.35% increase in the first year, 2.52% the second year and 1.01% the third year.


Helping Small Business Conserve Energy

Small business customers of SCE&G also recently received some extra consideration in the company’s plan to encourage energy conservation. This plan has been approved by the S.C Public Service Commission. SCE&G agreed to SCSBCC President Frank Knapp’s request that small businesses be included in a pilot program to test an “Energy Information Display” that will give real-time feedback on the price of energy being used in a building and the cost of energy used in the month. This program had originally been planned only for residential customers. In addition, SCE&G agreed to have a representative from the SCSBC on an Advisory Group that will review the company’s energy conservation program. This program will include financial incentives for small businesses to purchase common energy efficient technology such as high-efficiency lighting, lighting controls, motors, HVAC systems and food service equipment.


Get On Board the “BuySC” Campaign

The statewide “BuySC” campaign is about to be launched by the SCSBC. If you are a small South Carolina-owned business, we want you listed on our “BuySC” web directory. It’s easy and free. Simply e-mail Stephanie and ask her to send you the form to be included in “BuySC.” Your company’s name, service/product, address and telephone number will be listed under a page for your county. The long-term answer to growing our state’s economy is to grow our own small businesses. Big businesses recruited by our Department of Commerce come here and then move on to greener pastures. Our small businesses are here to stay and create most of the new jobs in this country. Our “BuySC” campaign wants everyone in South Carolina to understand the importance of supporting our local small businesses. “BuySC” is not just a call to action for consumers tempted by big box stores and internet purchases. It is an awakening to the desire we all have for a healthy, sustainable economy.

Please join us in our “BuySC” campaign. Help spread the word by flying a “BuySC” hyperlink badge on your website to draw more attention to our campaign to help local, small business. Just email Stephanie or call 803-252-5733 and tell her you want to participate.


Upcoming Health Care Forums In Marlboro & Dillon Counties

The SCSBCC along with its partners in South Carolina Healthcare Voices will be holding health care forums in Bennettsville and Dillon. The forums are open to the public. Since passage of the health care law this spring, several beneficial changes have already gone into effect and a many more are still to come. Make sure that you know the facts—not the fiction.

Monday, July 26th at 6 p.m., the forum will be held at the Bennettsville Community Center.

Thursday, July 29th at 6 pm, the Dillon County Chamber will host the forum at the Dillon Wellness Center.

Representatives from South Carolina Healthcare Voices will give the public an overview of the important changes in the health care law. Questions will be answered by representatives from the SCSBCC, SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, AARP-SC and SC Fair Share.


9.8% Drop in WC Costs Approved

Workers’ compensation insurance premiums will soon be dropping for many South Carolina small businesses. The S.C. Department of Insurance recently approved an overall decrease of 9.8% in “loss costs” in the voluntary workers’ compensation market. The “loss costs” for insurance companies is the difference between premiums collected and the cost of claims including court costs. So insurance companies overall were on a path to collect more premiums from South Carolina businesses than they could justify, leading to the industry’s filing that will—on average—reduce premiums.

This is very good news. The SCSBCC has successfully fought giant proposed workers' compensation rate increases over the years and has saved the business community approximately $200 million in premiums since 2006. This downward trend in the cost of claims is a sign that the business community is doing a better job in worker safety.


Looking for Answers from Gubernatorial Candidates

The SCSBCC does not endorse candidates nor give campaign contributions, as explained in a recent blog. However, we have sent a questionnaire to each of the three candidates who will be on the ballot for Governor in November. Senator Vincent Sheheen, Representative Nikki Haley and Dr. Morgan Reeves each received our questionnaire earlier this month covering the issues of healthcare, energy, taxation and economic development.

We’ll report to you and the public how the candidates answered our questions and our comments on their responses, which are due on August 2nd. We are also examining the legislative voting records of Sheheen and Haley to compare how they voted on bills of interest to SCSBCC.


SCSBCC Partners with 3 National Biz Organizations

SCSBCC’s success over the last year in being actively and successfully engaged in federal legislation to reform health care, Wall Street and now small business lending has been made possible by our formal alliance with several national organizations:

• Small Business Majority—A national non-profit, nonpartisan organization, founded and run by small business owners, that brings the voices of America’s 28 million small businesses to the public policy table.
• Main Street Alliance—A national network of state-based small business coalitions. The Alliance creates opportunities for small business owners to speak for ourselves in key public policy debates.
• American Sustainable Business Council—A coalition of business networks committed to public policies that support a vibrant, just and sustainable economy. Partnering organizations represent over 48,000 businesses and social enterprises and more than 150,000 entrepreneurs, owners, executives, investors and business professionals.

SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce
The Advocate of South Carolina Small Business
1717 Gervais Street • Columbia • SC • 29201
http://www.scsbc.org/ • 803-252-5733



Interested in advertising in an SCSBCC newsletter?
E-mail us at: sbchamber@scsbc.org

Become a Friend or Supporter of the SCSBCC and we will link your BuySC listing to your business' website!  Call us at 803-252-5733 for more information.

Workers’ Comp Rates to Drop Big

Where was that headline 11 days ago? 

On June 10^th, the S.C. Department of Insurance put out a media advisory saying that its Director, Scott Richardson, had approved an overall 9.8% decrease in worker’s compensation insurance rates (technically the cut was to something called “Loss Costs in the Voluntary Market” but I don’t want you to quit reading).

A 9.8% cut!!!!!!  In his economy this is great news for small business but I don’t know that any of our daily newspapers reported the story.

In 2005, a 32.9% hike in workers’ comp insurance was proposed, and in 2007, a 27.7% increase was put on the table.  Several South Carolina dailies reported these stories primarily because the big business organizations pushed the news as proof that reform was needed and claimant attorneys were driving up premiums.

“Blame the lawyers, not obscene insurance company profits,” they said.

But when it came time to fight these rate hikes in court, the big business organizations were nowhere to be found. 

Only The S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce and the State Consumer Advocate went before a judge to successfully fight the proposals.  Turned out that lawyers weren’t responsible for increased costs at all – and the judge dramatically reduced the proposed rate hikes to 18.7% (http://www.scsbc.org/view_press.asp?id=199) and 9.8% (http://www.scsbc.org/view_press.asp?id=256)  respectively.

So why did no reporter in the state pick up this very important, good news story about our businesses possibly saving big on future workers’ comp premiums?

Two reasons. 

First, there are far fewer reporters at our daily papers, as I pointed out in Monday’s blog.  This is especially true for pure business reporters.  The remaining ones simply don’t have the time to find and report every important story.  And, I hate to say this, but there might be no business reporter in South Carolina that knows enough about workers’ comp insurance to even understand how rates are determined.   I only found out about this 9.8% cut from Mike Whiteley of Workcompcentral.com in Texas.

Second, big business unfortunately sets the tone for what is a business story in this state and they had no interest in pushing this good news.  A cut in insurance rates doesn’t fit their tort reform story line.   “Only by cutting lawyers’ compensation can we ever reduce insurance premiums,” they scream year after year.   Ooops.

The reality is that while some reform in the civil justice system might be needed, it isn’t the lazy, ineffective kind of simply capping damage awards and lawyer compensation.  But that’s a story for another day.

Today’s message is this:

1. There are not enough hard news reporters at our dailies, and
2. There’s an undeserved big business special interest influence on reporters.

Both are keeping you from really being informed – and that’s not good news. 

The Mainstream Media's Epic Fail: Alvin Greene and the 2010 Primary

"I think the ultimate story that…should come out here is this is a major failure on the part of the media."  - Dan Cook, Editor, Free Times, Columbia SC, in radio interview on U Need 2 Know, WOIC (1230 AM,) June 17, 2010. 

Dan nailed it.  He was talking about the real story behind the Democratic U.S. Senate primary victory of Alvin Greene.  

Very few in the print media covered the contest the way that a U.S. Senate race deserves, until of course, it was too late to inform the electorate about the qualifications of Mr. Greene and his opponent Vic Rawl.  (My focus is on the print media because I hold them to a much higher standard for reporting the news.  Most electronic news is just ripping and reading what the print media has already reported or very shallow coverage dictated by the medium itself.  Bloggers might be the only exception.)

And depending on the results of the GOP Gubernatorial runoff, Dan’s comment might apply there also. 


Candidate Nikki Haley’s entire, long campaign has been about total transparency of a legislator’s voting record and income so that the public will know who they are really representing in the General Assembly. 


She garnered 49% of the Republican primary vote on that platform.

  "I knew her to be a connected person who had access to a lot of folks and information, and in my business, that sort of information is critical to get ahead." 
- Bob Ferrell, Wilbur Smith


Now only five days before the runoff she has been exposed as playing the same good ol’boy money games she has been sanctimoniously carping about.  Several years ago the Columbia engineering firm Wilbur Smith contracted with Representative Haley for one purpose only—information.  "I knew her to be a connected person who had access to a lot of folks and information, and in my business, that sort of information is critical to get ahead,” said Bob Ferrell of Wilbur Smith. (CNN’s “Political Ticker” Blog, 6/18/10)

Representative Haley wasn’t privy to this valuable information because of her family’s clothing business or her husband’s military service or her volunteer work for her church (whichever) or PTA.  The information she had was due solely to her serving in the South Carolina General Assembly.  Period.

Huffmon, courtesy ETV

John O’Connor, a print reporter with The State, finally broke the initial story on Representative Haley that has been hiding in plain view if anyone would have had the time to look for it earlier when it might have mattered to primary voters.

Scott Huffmon, political science professor at Winthrop University, agrees.  “This could have helped tarnish Nikki’s image three months ago, but not at this point.” 

I’m not criticizing our state’s print reporters.  There simply aren’t enough of them.   


Every daily in this state – heck, across the country – has cut their hard news staff to save money. 


Brent Nelsen, unsuccessful GOP primary candidate for S.C. Superintendant of Education, spotted this problem in his contest.  

“The media need to play a more active role in sorting through candidates," notes Nelsen. "The state’s financially strapped newspapers have cut back the number of reporters writing articles and opinion columns on politics.”

Most of the hard news reporters remaining hardly have time to look behind a press release to really understand the complexities of an issue.  Being able to do real investigative reporting is probably what most aspire to, but there is no time when your editor keeps handing you more and more story assignments to turn around by press time that day.

“The media need to play a more active role in sorting through candidates." - Brent Nelsen

Our reporters have simply been beat down, grateful to still have a job and looking for that one break that can help them escape a collapsing industry.

The consequences of all this are more than just Alvin Greene and Nikki Haley; the public is missing important stories on government and business every day.  In fact, I’ll share with you one of those stories in my next blog post here at UnConflicted.