Tuesday, Jun. 01, 2010

Blue Springs business owner speaks to the House Committee on Small Business in Washington D.C.

This morning, Robert “Lea” Bailes, Jr., chief executive officer of the Guier Fence Company, Blue Springs, testified at the House Committee on Small Business’s annual “Heroes of Small Business” hearing.

Bailes was invited to testify by Congressman Sam Graves-R who serves as the committee’s ranking member. The hearing highlighted small business success stories from across the country.

“Small business owners like Lea Bailes have been particularly hard hit by the current recession,” Graves said. “He has had to make some tough decisions to keep the Guier Fence Company operational in a time of great economic uncertainty. Congress and the Federal government need to do everything in their power to give small businesses the tools they need to be successful.”

The Guier Fence Company is a 31-year-old family-owned business specializing in fence installations. With revenues of approximately $10 million and 60 employees, Guier Fence is in the top one percent of fence companies in the United States. Earlier this year, Bailes founded Guier Franchising Concepts, LLC as a way to offer franchise opportunities based on Guier Fence’s business model.

Bailes attributed his business’s ability to stay afloat in the present economic climate to the hard work and dedication of his employees. However, he admitted he has had to make job cuts to keep the company stable. In his testimony, Bailes asked Congress not to impose new rules and regulations on law-abiding businesses.

“I am unclear what effect certain new laws will have on my business,” Bailes told the committee. “I have no idea whether our health care costs are going to rise or fall. I have no idea whether our income taxes are going up or down. Uncertainty, in the eyes of business owners, can be as bad as ill-conceived policies simply because we cannot make decisions when we don’t know what regulatory schemes and tax levels will be.”

“With seven out of ten jobs in this country created by small businesses like Guier Fence,” Graves added, “Congress and the Federal government should not hamstring America’s entrepreneurs. Increased regulation and taxation – and the uncertainty that accompanies them – mean small to medium sized companies are having a difficult time figuring out the playing field. That shouldn’t be the case.”