Published: November 05, 2009 11:09 am      

Small businesses need and deserve some help

To all politicians: My name is Morgan Rhodes. I am 17 years old and I am a senior at Goshen High School. I am writing you because of my concern about the condition of small businesses. I am employed by a small business, but will soon not be because of the economy.

President Obama, in his campaign speeches, said he would help the small businesses to get America back on track and to recover the bad economy. Small businesses, like my employer, Age of Aquariums, which has been a small business for more than a quarter of a century, is (most likely) going to close its doors because of no financial help. Small business is what made American strong like it used to be.

My boss, owner of Age of Aquariums, is 58 years old. Where is he supposed to get a job? He can’t go back to school to get a higher education. He could, but we all know no one will hire him because of his age.

The stimulus money should have been distributed to all businesses, not just big corporations like GM, banks, etc. My boss said he doesn’t need billions of dollars like the larger corporations got, just some kind of small loan that small businesses like his could repay. Small business, with its small loans, is much more likely to repay on a timely basis. Also a few dollars would go a long way.

Another point of concern is, I am a 17-year-old high school student who depends on part-time work for my income. Small businesses are usually more apt to hire part-time help than large corporations. Part-time employment is my total subsistence. Therefore, my parents don’t have to shell out as much money to me. This is very important in these economic times because there isn’t enough money to go around the way it is.

Being that small businesses have proven to be the backbone of a capitalistic society, I fail to understand why more money hasn’t been put toward small businesses. It only takes sense, or should I say, “cents.” Please keep the “backbone” going. If not, I fear the worst is yet to come. Again, please do all you can not to let this happen. Put political interest aside, and do what you and I know is best. Support small businesses!

— Morgan Rhodes

Goshen