Politics & Government

Kinzinger, Local Business Owners Talk Solutions Amid Uncertainty

Congressman Adam Kinzinger and about 15 business owners discussed the impact the economy and national debt have had on their local operations during a meeting Tuesday in New Lenox.

While meeting with small business owners from the area Tuesday, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Manteno) said a “Washington-knows-best attitude” has caused probems for businesses and jobs in the country.

At least 15 people involved with local businesses or development attended a discussion with Kinzinger in New Lenox to share concerns and ask questions.

As a prelude to the back-and-forth, Kinzinger gave a short presentation called “The Facts About Job Growth in America,” citing unemployment figures. He especially zeroed in on Blue Island’s family-owned Modern Drop Forge Company deciding to move to Indiana to claim that current federal and state policies haven’t worked for business.



Kinzinger wanted to use the rest of the time to get feedback from local business owners, something he thinks will help him find solutions to the problems they face.

“I want to hear from you,” he said. “I’m not a small business owner and I’m not a job creator.”

But much of the discussion consisted of problems raised without many solutions offered. The concerns largely focused on how to keep businesses in the U.S., cutting back on a growing list of regulations and other changes that could impact business, such as the new health care law or the redrawn Illinois congressional maps.

Kinzinger was short on answers to keeping businesses from outsourcing, but suggested a “repatriation of wealth.” A U.S. company in Germany, he argued, could make money there and pay taxes, but to bring that money home would need to pay additional taxes to the U.S. He wants to lower the tax those businesses would have to pay so it would be easier to invest here.

“Some say it’s a second stimulus the government doesn’t have to pay for,” he said. “We need to figure out how to keep businesses here.” But he said there isn’t a federal government answer to that. He said the government can’t punish those businesses for outsourcing, or they’ll just take the entire operation overseas.

Another point Kinzinger attacked was regulations he and business owners who attended both said were becoming too much. (“This is a bureaucracy trying to justify their existence,” he said.)

owner Mark Stevens said that new regulations have hamstrung the banks, but the uncertainty that many face has kept people from taking out loans. Stevens said the bank could lend $15 million to $20 million today, but nobody wants to buy.

“We’d be happy to lend, but there’s no confidence,” he said.

That uncertainty was what kept solutions hard to find during the round table discussion. Lorine Samuels, who runs Strategic Business Services, said it’s impacted her business greatly because she often advised startup businesses. “But there’s not a lot of startups,” she said. “It’s a vicious cycle.”

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Last weekend, Kinzinger was in Channahon for a town hall meeting.


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