Who's Making it in Massachusetts?

I am a small business owner of two retail stores and one manufacturing facility in Massachusetts which employees a total of fifteen people. In 2009 the credit card companies drastically cut the amount of credit they were extending and some of our business credit cards went out of business. As a manufacturing facility and owners of retail stores, the credit cards allowed us to make purchases necessary to the business so we’re not tying up our cash flow. Not having the credit we were accustomed to pose a very difficult situation for us and forced us to make difficult choices. Our choices were: file bankruptcy, shut the business down, sell the building in Reading which hosts one of the retail locations or sell our house in Wakefield to access money the banks weren’t loaning.

Even though bankruptcy was an option we didn’t view it as a valid choice. If we went with closing the business it would have been similar to bankruptcy, only we wouldn’t have filed anything legally and we would have stopped paying all of our bills; closed three retail stores which employed at that time ten people and walked away from two leases which means those landlords would potentially loose tens of thousands of dollars in revenue and be burdened with empty spaces. The financial loss would be great because of how it trickles down to the many vendors our business uses in different capacities, not to mention the charities we donate to would also feel the financial loss.  My husband and I chose option 3 and 4 listing the commercial building and our house at the same time in hopes that the building would sell. Unfortunately, our building was added to the Historic Commission without any due process which is one hurdle. The other hurdles in regards to purchasing commercial property require the buyer to either pay in full for the property or have at least 30% to put down because commercial building loans are structured differently than residential loans.  As a result of the hurdles, the commercial building didn’t sell, but our house in Wakefield did. We were able to put the money from the sale into our business and moved a family of five to a two bedroom apartment above our retail location in Reading all to continue operating our business in Massachusetts.

Owning our own business is difficult not only because of the strategic decisions we are always contemplating, but because we never take a break from the business, it’s on our mind 24/7 and that was our choice. During these difficult times we have made decisions with significant sacrifices like selling our home and back in March of 2011 we made the choice to close our Lynnfield location in an attempt to do what is best for the health of the company and our employees. However, no matter what sacrifices we make as owners the perception is “those who own a business are rich.”  I’m pleased to see Senator Katherine Clark talk about assistance for small business, but I’m more impressed with the Reading North Reading Chamber of Commerce’s commitment of resources for the “Buy Local Campaign.” The Town Manager and Developer need to be proactive in attracting broad commercial businesses to stimulate Reading’s economic development and they need to better support the existing businesses.  It’s not as difficult to open a business as it is to run a successful business in our area because of the hurdles which stifle Economic Growth. So who is making it in Massachusetts?