Joni Ernst doesn’t speak for small businesses

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, recently held a field hearing titled 'Bridging the Skills Gap: Policies to Help Iowa's Workers and Small Businesses Thrive.” Included in this small business hearing was the president of Fareway, a grocer with estimated revenue sales of 1.2 billion, and Geetings Inc., with an estimated revenue of around $3.8 million. As a small-business owner with three employees, this is not exactly what I picture when I think of Iowa's small businesses.

While a small business is loosely defined as one with fewer than 100 employees, I would encourage Ernst to reach outside the Des Moines metro area into smaller rural communities in Iowa to speak with Iowans who are truly 'small” and listen to their concerns. The Tax Cuts Job Act that was passed two years ago wasn't passed to help these individuals.

Tanya Burgess

Cedar Rapids