Business owners from across the Commonwealth gathered in Frankfort Wednesday for the Kentucky Chamber’s Small Business Day at the Capitol.
Lawmakers heard testimony from the business community in the House Small Business and Information Technology Committee, where Kentucky Chamber Senior Manager of Public Affairs John Hughes emphasized the impact of small businesses in Kentucky and their role in the legislative process.
Louisville Tile CEO and Kentucky Chamber Small Business Council Chair Dub Newell said he moved to Kentucky at age 20 and “could feel the energy”, saying how he felt the city (of Louisville) and state were primed for growth. Now, he said, the Commonwealth continues to lose some companies and is not attracting as many as he would like to see, as states to the south flourish.
He stressed that other states seeing tremendous growth don’t have things that Kentucky does, like good people, quality of life, and more, but instead, they have created favorable tax structures and are easy to do business with.
Newell challenged the lawmakers and business leaders in the room to begin thinking differently in order to push Kentucky forward and achieve the growth everyone wants to see.
“Being as good as they are is not enough, we have to be better, Newell said. “We have just as much to offer as our competitors do. We have a beautiful river, beautiful lakes, we are the thoroughbred capitol of the world, we have the Kentucky Derby, and we are the home to Kentucky Bourbon. We now live in a world where people have much more freedom to live where they choose-lets make sure its Kentucky.”
House Small Business and IT Committee Chair Phillip Pratt, a small business owner himself, stressed the work being done by the General Assembly in recent years to improve the climate for business and highlighted the importance of small businesses.
“Small businesses create 67 percent of all new jobs in Kentucky. Small businesses make sure families are fed and people have good paying jobs,” Pratt said.
As for the priorities of the business community in the 2024 session, Newell emphasized the need for lawmakers to continue their work to lower Kentucky’s individual income tax and urged them to pass funding to ensure quality, affordable child care in Kentucky.
As part of the Chamber’s Small Business Day at the Capitol, sponsored by Planter’s Bank, business owners heard from Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Senate President Robert Stivers, House Speaker David Osborne, and other legislators about what is being done to help make Kentucky more competitive.
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