Kerry-Edwards Campaign Launches New Hampshire Business Leaders Steering Committee

PORTSMOUTH, NH – Laura Tyson, Dean of the London Business School and Chair of the National Economic Council under President Clinton, today announced the Kerry-Edwards New Hampshire Business Leaders Steering Committee in Portsmouth. Tyson was joined by business leaders who trumpeted the Kerry-Edwards plan to open a new era of opportunity for small businesses.

“George W. Bush has chosen the wrong direction for New Hampshire’s workers and the American economy,” Tyson said. “The Bush-Cheney Administration has weakened the environment for small business – loans are down, access to capital has decreased, while health care and energy costs are increasing. John Kerry and John Edwards have a real plan alleviate health care costs for small businesses, create jobs, and make them more competitive.”

“As a small business owner in New Hampshire, I have felt first-hand the crippling impact of skyrocketing health care costs,” said Mary Jo Brown, owner of Brown and Company Design. “Our country needs leadership who will make the right choices for our small businesses. John Kerry and John Edwards will fight to give small businesses real opportunities to grow and thrive.”

Laura Tyson was joined by steering committee members including Mary Jo Brown, owner of Brown and Company Design, which specializes in publications and website design. Mary Jo has had to put the skyrocketing costs of health care on the backs of her employees.

Lori Hitchcock, owner of Hitchcock Technology a hi-tech recruiting company and Ron Ulrich, owner of MedOne Health Care discussed how the Kerry-Edwards plan will provide the incentives and opportunities for their businesses to thrive. The Business Leader Steering Committee will provide valuable outreach to garner support and grassroots efforts for the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

      The Kerry-Edwards campaign announced 24 members of the Steering Committee:

      Tom Arnold, Arnie’s Place, Concord
      Carolyn and Randall Benthien, Benthien Associates, Goffstown
      Richard Bouley, Bouley Associates Inc., Concord
      Mary Jo Brown, Brown and Company Design, Portsmouth
      Lorrie Carey, Marshall’s Flowers, The Square Rose, Boscawen
      D. Ann Carlsmith, Stepping Stones Bed and Breakfast, Wilton
      Peter Cooke, Cooke Associates, Hooksett
      Irene Creteau, Hourihane, Cormier & Associates, Rochester
      Michael Donovan, Winged Victory Travel, Portsmouth
      Connie Farr and Maria Saitas, Merrimack Restaurant, Manchester
      Linda Frank, World Unique Imports and Exports, Franconia
      Lori Hitchcock, Hitchcock Staffing, Portsmouth
      Harold Janeway, White Mountain Investments, Concord
      Ted Jastremski, Tally Systems, Lebanon
      Sal Bossi and Deedee Maratea, Classic Realty, Loudon
      Jim Morash, Mount Washington Cruises, Laconia
      George McQuilken, Ecoast Angel Investors, Portsmouth
      Lloyd Murray Jr., White Mountain Chalet and Chalet Caterers, Berlin
      Bruce Parrish, Hermanos Cucina Mexicana, Concord
      Michelle Robbins, B&B Printing, Somersworth
      Paula Scales, Brookstone Builders, Merrimack
      Ron Ulrich, MedOne Health Care, Portsmouth
      Bill Verge, Verge Insurance, Newington
      Charles B. Yeaton, Betty House Antiques, Epsom

Tyson today outlined the Kerry-Edwards plan to strengthen small businesses in the Granite State. George W. Bush has made the wrong choices for the business community: in addition to cutting funding for programs that support small businesses, he has ignored the soaring health care and energy prices that are crippling small businesses. George Bush is taking America in the wrong direction by continuing to mislead Americans with claims that his policies will create new jobs when his record proves they will not.

Skyrocketing health care costs not only make it difficult for families to afford quality, reliable coverage, but it makes it hard for America’s small businesses to expand. Unfortunately, under George Bush, rising health care costs have squeezed small businesses and eliminated jobs. Health care costs have risen four times faster than wages in the last year. Not only has Bush done nothing to alleviate the financial stress that small businesses are facing with increasing premiums, but the few proposals Bush has offered would make matters worse.

When they are elected, Kerry and Edwards will build a stronger economy that works for all Americans, with tax relief for middle class families and small businesses, investment in the jobs and technologies of the future, and a plan to lower health care costs and expand coverage.

As president, John Kerry will bring to the White House both the lessons he learned from owning and working in a small business and his leadership in fighting to support small businesses in the Senate. Tapping into the ingenuity and inventiveness that drives American business, John Kerry and John Edwards will usher in a new era of opportunity for small business.

From 1998-2001, Laura Tyson was Dean of the Haas, School of Business at the University of California, Berkley. Tyson served in the Clinton Administration as Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors from 1993 to 1995 and Chairman of the National Economic Council from 1995-1996. She has been a member of the Council of Foreign Relations since 1987.