Facing Arizona: Federal government should help small businesses, owners

Editor’s note: Facing Arizona is a series that will appear on KTAR.com and social media  — follow KTAR News on Instagram and Facebook for updates — highlighting unique and everyday people across our state and give you a glimpse into their lives.

Hi, my name is Kim Robinson, and I moved to Arizona in from the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2009 with my husband.

We both work for the U.S. Forest Service, and I am a small business owner as well. I opened up a brick-and-mortar storefront in downtown Flagstaff in 2012, but I have owned my business since 1999.

It was mainly to assist supporting local artists and to help artists who were wanting to own their own business. This is why I have a solid opinion about small businesses and how the government should aid small business owners, thus supporting the American economy.

In 2016, business with fewer than 100 employees made up 98 percent of all companies and was responsible for 70 percent of new jobs.

I believe that the government needs to invest more in small businesses and small business owners instead of bailing out large corporations at the expense of the American taxpayer.

Small business owners have been doing it for themselves for years, supporting their employees, figuring it out for themselves, struggling to make it through without substantial financial assistance from the government. If you look at the types of incentives that are offered to chain retail stores and larger corporations, it’s lopsided and in favor of big business. You can see this at the local, state, and national level.

I feel it’s time to stop this type of pandering and reinvest into small businesses and business owners since we are the base of the pyramid for the American economy. — Kim