Small Business Big World
New episodes every Tuesday discussing the challenges, adventures and fun of being a small business owner. Each week we'll delve into various small business topics, from real-world DEI considerations to selling your business, using video to market your business, unique benefit offerings for your employees and so much more. Curated by the crew at Paper Trails.
Small Business Big World
Lobbying for Your Small Business
Unlock the secrets of small business lobbying with Lauren LePage from Fyre Strategies. In this episode, we dissect the complexities of government affairs and their impact on small enterprises. This episode promises to steer you through the legislative maze, shedding light on strategies that can turn policy hurdles into strides of advocacy for your business.
Discover how trade associations and industry groups can amplify your voice in the legislative arena, and why these connections are particularly potent in states like Maine. Listen in for practical advice on staying ahead of legislative developments and leveraging the collective power of small businesses to influence policy that impacts our economy's backbone.
Small Business Big World has been featured in Feedspot's Top 100 Small Business Podcasts! Check it out at here!
This is Small Business, big World, our weekly podcast prepared by the team at Paper Trails. Owning and running a small business is hard. Each week, we'll dive into the challenges, headaches, trends, fun and excitement of running a small business. After all, small businesses are the heartbeat of America and our team is here to keep them beating. Welcome to another episode of Small Business, big World. Today, my guest is Lauren LePage from Fire Strategies. Welcome, lauren, thank you Great to be here. Excellent, thank you. So, a little bit before we get started, some housekeeping. Don't forget to like, follow, share, subscribe, rate, review, all of those exciting things all over the social media universe. Right, we're on Apple Podcasts, spotify. Visit us at smallbusinessbigworldcom. Visit us at smallbusinessbigworldcom. You can always email questions to us at podcast at papertrailscom. We're happy to get those questions off to our guests or talk about them on a future episode. So, lauren, thank you for joining me and talk to me about what you do with Fire Strategies. What's the deal?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Fire Strategies is a comprehensive, full-scale communications, government affairs and political consulting firm, so we do everything from helping candidates to get elected and then we have an array of government affairs clients where we provide lobbying services and we also do some crisis communications work.
Speaker 1:So that's the big topic today is lobbying for small business, right? So certainly, I can tell you, and all of our clients can tell you, is the state and the federal government, and even at the local level, we're seeing, you know, more and more regulation, compliance driven stuff coming down the road and it's it's a challenge for our small business clients to continue to maintain compliance. So what is, what is government affairs? How does it all work? What is, how does the lobbying practice work? You know, we, we think of these big lawyers out there, you know, knocking on the halls of Congress, but what does it really look like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it really looks like it's. As you know, you run a small business, you don't necessarily have time to be in Augusta and monitor legislation, testify, follow up, talk to your reps and all of that. So a lobbyist will come in and basically say what is your scope of issues, and then it's my job to go do that work on behalf of the client, in this case the small business.
Speaker 1:Awesome. So when we talk about that government affairs process, that lobbying process, what types of issues I mean, are you seeing folks really, you know, go after right, is it? Is it a one issue thing? Is it an industry specific thing? You know, it probably depends, right?
Speaker 2:I mean I think you could say lobbying services cover the full gamut from. You know we've seen like different, you know social issues but really the focus I think in Augusta has been on hourly wage and labor issues and energy issues have been a huge focus over the last couple of years, specifically impacting the business community. Those two topics seem to be the biggest.
Speaker 1:So energy, I know you and I have talked about that an awful lot, right? I mean, things are expensive here in Maine in terms of energy. So when a business client comes to you and they say Lauren, you know, we want to introduce a bill, do they? Does that happen?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. So. That happens quite often. I actually represent the Towing and Recovery Association of Maine, who came to me last year and they needed some help with liability insurance coverage. So we were able to get a bill introduced and then we went and passed the bill for them last session to help them with one of the hurdles they were facing.
Speaker 1:And that means working through the whole legislative process right Finding someone to sponsor the bill, someone to work it through committee. Get it to the floor.
Speaker 2:Lobby for votes all that kind of stuff right.
Speaker 1:So I think the news and TV kind of sensationalizes how, you know, laws are made right. But is it really that dramatic? Is there a lot of you know, is there a lot of back and forth? Is there a lot of excitement? A lot of you know horse trading to get this to happen. Or you know, are we trading votes? What's the what's the strategy? What's the strategy?
Speaker 2:No, I think generally I mean lobbyists are really we tend to sort of provide the subject matter expertise. So if I don't know as the lobbyist I certainly have access to someone in the industry who can provide the expertise. And our job is often to educate and try to influence policy through education. So I would say there's a lot less sort of house of cards horse trading happening and a lot more just really good faith education to try to minimize whatever negative impacts may come of whatever piece of legislation is in front of the legislature.
Speaker 1:So really, it's that education piece. Right, that's the. You know, I think you know I've said this before, particularly here in Maine. We have a citizen legislature, right, and they're not they may not be super sophisticated right, there are lobstermen and, you know, restaurant owners and those kinds of people working in these jobs and particularly in our industry, when we've looked at, you know, lobbying efforts, really educating the committees and the legislators about what the issue is and how it works and the mechanics and the finance in the background, right, is that? How much of a challenge is that? Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think it makes sense because you have folks that come from all walks of life that serve in the main legislature, and everyone brings a certain expertise to the table. Every single person in the main legislature is there with pure intentions, with a certain expertise, but you're dealing with issues across all of the different sectors and it's impossible to be an expert in every single issue. So I think lobbyists can provide a lot of education to those folks who may be dealing with a policy area for the first time.
Speaker 1:So what kind of impact you mentioned that you had a client that was trying to help you introduce to bill for. What other kind of issues are out there? I mean, we've seen wage and hour seems to be a big one recently. Right, I know, you know, for a lot of our clients that's a big deal. Well, everybody it's a big deal. But are there any themes you're seeing across the state or across the country in terms of legislation that's been coming out?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I mean, I think we've seen a huge push in the energy sector to attain, you know, climate goals, but as part of that there is a delicate dance where, yes, we want to embrace renewable technologies but at the same time, maine's electricity rates are incredibly high and can be cost prohibitive to not only small businesses but also Maine rate payers.
Speaker 1:So I think it's finding that balance between embracing technology at the same time sort of making sure that we are not uncompetitive when it comes to our electricity rates, which I would argue at this point we are Right. So I'm your client. I come in I say, hey, the legislature has introduced a bill that says I own this kind of business and I have to paint my building blue. Right, that's probably not going to happen. But if we said that, right, and I wanted to say no, no, no, I want a green building, right, what steps do you take to kind of lobby on behalf of your clients? And if there's a bill in the legislature that could adversely impact a client, what does that look like in terms of working that through the process?
Speaker 2:A hundred percent. So I have clients where I will see a bill and I'm like, ooh, this might have adverse effects to my client. So what I'll do is I'll take the bill, I'll send them the bill, I'll say you know what are the unintended consequences here? Is this going to affect the industry? Next thing is they provide feedback. I take that feedback and I sort of I make a list and I say who are my allies and who's the opposition on this particular bill. And the most important thing that we can do as lobbyists is coalition build. You know you want your clients to have a coalition of folks who care about the issue with them, and so I spend a lot of time working with other lobbyists to sort of collaborate if they're impacted by the same bill, but maybe in a different way or a different section. And that's how a lot of this stuff gets done. I mean, it really is a ton of collaboration with the state house dome.
Speaker 1:And that's great, right. I mean the more people that are working together, the better the outcome, right. And I think you know in my experience I've seen a lot of times the state may not even understand this. Even I've seen bills introduced by state administration that have changed, you know, or they've obviously found a sponsor, but you know the state doesn't even understand how it truly impacts. And you know cost studies and all those kind of things, cost impacts, whatever. So that's certainly important to educate and inform and work together with people. So what you know, what negative implications have you seen? Clients come to you, things are, you know, things pass that. You know. What are we seeing in terms of negative implications of this legislation that's out there? I mean just certainly you know it could be anything right?
Speaker 1:I mean, what are some of the things you've seen?
Speaker 2:Well, I think one of the things that we're going to see and I'm not sure we've seen the full scope of the implications yet but when we impose mandates on businesses. So I think over the years we've seen sort of dramatic increases in minimum wage. We've seen, you know, various requirements for paid family medical leave. We've seen a lot of these different policies that will increase the cost of doing business and that can't really be argued with and sort of how do those costs get passed on to the consumer? And then what does that look like? I'm not sure that we've seen the full scope, specifically on paid family leave, but I think we will see that in the coming months and year or two and we'll see how that goes. But that is sort of, you know, as we've seen. You know, the cost of doing business really does impact people's quality of life and what they can afford.
Speaker 1:Sure, I mean, I think here in Maine I'll use us as an example, right, we're seeing our legislature, in my opinion, follow the wave of a lot of this social, you know, justice kind of regulations that are going on across the country, like they started in California, and they're making their way this way and I think that has had an impact on you know, from my perspective. We're an apparel company, right, it's been great for business, it's great job security, right?
Speaker 1:Thank you, janet. Right, you know, that's been wonderful. You know, in terms of everything right, we talked about minimum wage adjustments, we talk about earned paid leave. Now we're coming to family, family medical leave, we've got a retirement mandate this year. Certainly lots and lots of stuff keeping us busy as we're helping our clients. But you know, and I think you know, the feedback we hear from clients is how am I going to pay for this right? How am I going to logistically do this right? I'm busy changing the oil of the car, I'm busy flipping the cheeseburger, I'm busy running my business, and now I have to worry about X, y and Z, and sometimes it's not even the cost, it's the time. There's only so many hours in a day. I'm sure you see that in terms of that implication, it may not be a hard cost to some of these things, but there is a soft cost.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, as someone who is running a business and I am the only person running it I don't have 30 hours in a day, I have 24 and I need to sleep and do other things.
Speaker 2:So I totally understand and I think that having that voice in the legislature really telling folks like, look, before we move forward with this proposal, let's take a step back and consider all of these different factors, it's just important. I mean, it's really important. And I know oftentimes people feel like is their voice really going to matter? And the answer is yes, it matters.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's a key thing. Everyone's voice matters, right? I mean, if you don't say anything, it's just going to go the way. It's going to go 100%. So I think that's really important to pay attention to A lot of folks. I mean 100%, so I think that's really important to pay attention to A lot of folks, myself included. I can't even think of a situation where I might hire someone like you, probably from a cost perspective, but also from a legit Not that you're super expensive or anything, but for one business to take on a lobbying effort is probably sometimes not feasible unless you're a bigger business.
Speaker 1:So what does it look like? There's a lot of trade organizations that have lobbies. What's that look like in terms of working together, right? I mean, the association does a lot of that work, right?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think that most associations will tell you that the power of the association comes from their members. So I think if you join a trade association, get engaged in the process. Usually there's a legislative subcommittee. Usually there's a call to action to show up or testify or contact your legislator. So even if the best route for you is to become a member of a trade association which they provide a tremendous amount of service for, main business, you know the next step in that is not only to join the association but find out what you can do within your time to contribute to the efforts of the organization, even if it is simply calling or emailing your personal legislator on a certain bill.
Speaker 1:That's good. Yeah, I think we see that particularly in I'll use hospitality, right. We have a very active hospitality association. They're wonderful and they have a team, they have a legislative committee, they have a lobbyist that works for them right on those types of issues. So anything that's going to affect restaurants, hotels, those bills, they're vetting them, they're testifying for or against them, they're, you know, understanding, they're educating all that stuff. So you're getting for a membership fee of $500 a year maybe or something around that, you're getting huge value in terms of representation, right?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think that they would often say like sometimes, as lobbyists, like legislators, see us every single day, so it's nice if you can get active and show up on a big day, because it's a change of face and it's a different voice and sometimes hearing from the actual business can be incredibly powerful.
Speaker 1:Do these legislators? They actually listen right, do they?
Speaker 2:listen. Yes, so I actually I will say, although I think things can get partisan in Augusta, we are not Washington DC and impacts can still you can still have an impact. So I know that it's super frustrating sometimes if things don't go your way, but the reality is like. Maine is a small state. Your legislators are very accessible and I've found that anyone will have a conversation. So I found that I can have a conversation with just about anyone under the dome and it can be productive. Now, we may not come down on the same side of an issue, but there will be a conversation.
Speaker 1:Which is nice, right, right, they don't have 30 staffers. You know, guarding them and being the gatekeeper, right?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:And that's, I think, the case in most state legislatures, not just unique to Maine, right, I mean, I think that's across the country, I mean, unless you're in California or Texas or Florida maybe.
Speaker 2:But and I think one thing that right, and we all pay attention to what's happening in DC, but there are things happening. There's nothing happening in DC.
Speaker 2:There's nothing happening really Like there's a lot of drama, there's a lot of fighting, but there is stuff happening in the Maine Statehouse and hundreds of bills pass every single year and you can really have an impact in the Maine legislature and you still see collaboration. And so, even though things can get partisan and there are some issues that come down party line, you know, I think we still need to take advantage of the fact that, like, our legislators are willing to listen and we need to get involved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's really important is, again, we all see the drama on TV, right, and I think you know for the most part, again, our legislatures are our neighbors, right? I mean, I can drive up the road and knock on Joe Rafferty's door and say, hey, what's going on? Right, I saw him at the gas station yesterday. If there's something really impacting me, he'll listen, right, right, and I think that's a positive thing about all politics is local or whatever they say.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I find that the legislation that's passed locally and at the state level usually impacts people far more than anything that happens at the federal level.
Speaker 2:I would argue that you know, I think more is won and lost at the state level than at the federal level and I think it's been that way for quite some time. And I think you know media would like to us to believe that everything is happening in Washington. But, like you said, the reality is, you know, big pieces of legislation there's not many that move.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I mean especially these days. Right, I mean, when was the last time Congress passed federal? You know Congress passed anything substantial other than spending, spending, spending, right, I mean I, I can't tell you the last time that they've, you know, in the last five years anyway, that I can think of something that they've passed that's directly affected me, right, other than maybe my checkbook. You know I write my tax bill every quarter, right, but you know that's where.
Speaker 2:You know, if we take a look at our state legislatures, our local councils and select boards and so forth, you know that's where things are happening that are affecting your business, and I want to add something really quickly about sort of. You know Maine's process is unique in the sense that, like every bill gets a hearing. It's a pretty transparent process. Everything is online, so even if you can't make it to Augusta, there are still opportunities to participate remotely. And you know we don't have a system where one person yields this tremendous amount of power and dictates which bills get heard. Some states do have that, we don't, and so it's a really sort of public, transparent process and if you want to get involved, there are certainly opportunities that don't require you. I know certainly down here I live in Sanford it's a hall to get to Augusta, so I would encourage folks to learn about those, and trade organizations are the perfect way to start dipping your toe in the pool to get engaged in the legislative process.
Speaker 1:So what other ways can folks get engaged? I mean, certainly I'm not writing a bill, I'm not writing a lot. Certainly I may say, hey, this is something I'd like to see. But if there's some issue in my industry that I really want to see some change on, how do I start that process?
Speaker 2:I would say reach out to your legislator and invite them to your business, have a conversation with them and open the door. That is number one. Number two, and I know folks oftentimes in the private sector don't want to be politically engaged. But the reality is it is important to have those relationships with your legislators and it is important to get engaged and it is important to learn and support candidates who are going to go to Augusta and pass policies that will help your small business grow. So you know, I'll be the one to say it you have to get engaged.
Speaker 2:The days of sitting on the sideline and being sort of non-political, I think are coming to an end.
Speaker 1:And that's, you know, perfect segue. Monday I found myself at a political event and I didn't even realize it, but I was wearing a paper trail sweatshirt and there were pictures being taken. I'm like I can't be having pictures taken with this. You know, nobody needs to know what I'm doing. But you know not that I don't want to support causes and see things moving forward. But it is that fine line for business owners where I don't want to, you know, anger any of my customers. I don't want to push people away. Certainly there's the other side where you might attract customers in that. But you know, I think that is a challenge that small business owners see and maybe sometimes using the trade organizations, using a lobbyist or something, might be a better route.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I want to say I think that you should get engaged. I don't necessarily think you need to be partisan, or I don't think you need to be like out there being a hot rod and you know, throwing yourself upon every sword you know what I mean but I do think it is important to at the very least establish relationships with your personal legislators. So if you do have a legislator in your district and your business is facing some issue, call them up and invite them to come over and see your business, tour your business, meet your employees, talk about the issue. There are things you can do to get engaged in the process that you still won't run the risk of sort of being perceived as a hyper-partisan.
Speaker 1:Right, which that's in today's world, as we know, business owners get canceled all the time. Right, it's the cancel culture and I think that's the fear that I have as a business owner. That's a fear a lot of our clients have. As a business owner, saying gosh, I really believe in this issue, but I'm afraid to speak my mind because I don't want to anger, you know, this set of clients or whatever. That's a real issue for small businesses. I think there's good solutions too. So what's the relationship between the state legislature and the federal legislature? I mean, is there anything that's happening here that we're pushing to Washington or back and forth, or you know? Is there a relationship there or are they pretty independent?
Speaker 2:Well, I think they operate pretty independently of each other. But I do think, like you will see, the federal delegation like reach out. I think it happens less with the legislative bodies and more so with the chief executive. I think that there is a line of communication talking about what is happening at the federal level, how that's going to impact the state and, you know, are there issues we're trying to deal with at the state level that may be better served dealing with at the federal level? So I think, like there is always a dialogue, but I would say that generally we don't see our federal elected officials sort of getting hyper engaged in the state legislative process because they believe that's really the state legislative business.
Speaker 1:Sure State's rights, right, we go way back right.
Speaker 2:Constitutional law. Right, there's this thing, but I think there's, you know, I think that there's always a dialogue and I think conversations are had, but like we don't see sort of federal elected officials really wading into state level discussions, which is nice, right, I think you know that's Inappropriate, sure and well.
Speaker 1:Plus, they have plenty of stuff to keep themselves busy.
Speaker 2:They have enough going on, I think, drinking from the fire hose that is Washington DC.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's for sure. So what other? Are there any? If you had any advice for a small business owner to get involved or pay attention, or what resources are out there for a small business owner to even pay attention to what bills are coming onto the table? Right, I mean, I even pay attention to what bills are coming onto the table, right, I mean I try to keep an eye on it. I watch the news, but is there anywhere that business owners can go to find that information out, rather than digging through everything?
Speaker 2:Of course. So I would say, like the first step is in your industry, is there an association? Because associations are going to boil everything down for you and sort of deliver a newsletter and give you the highlights, and that is by far, I think, as a small business owner, the easiest way to get engaged. If there's not a trade association, then I think, like you know, pay attention to local media. If there's a big bill, media is going to cover that big bill, so pay attention to that bill. And then you know, there's various websites available, but legislaturemainegov has everything online. You can sign up to follow a committee, get notifications of all the public hearing and work session notices and if, frankly, that is overwhelming because it can be, look at hiring a government affairs professional to do it for you. It is certainly something that can be outsourced.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good point, I think. You know I just on a whim, a couple weeks ago I was I subscribed to the governor's newsletter and announcements and she's very active. She sends a lot of stuff out. I just I have too many emails. It is, yeah, she got her own folder. So I'm like, well, on Sunday morning I might have a minute to clean that out. But you know, I definitely think it's. It's a challenge to stay up on top of things.
Speaker 2:It really is, and that's why you know people like me exist. You know we exist to provide a service, but that service is staying on top of that for you and providing report backs and getting your feedback. So you know, I think there are multiple ways to do it, but I do think trade associations provide tremendous value for folks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially on the state levels. I mean, we've talked about trade organizations on this podcast before and I think there is a tremendous value. And the big thing about those trade organizations, like you said, is you have to get involved. Yes, you can't just pay your dues and forget about it, right? No, you're not going to get any value out of it if you're not putting value in, right, right?
Speaker 2:And I would argue that also, like a chamber of commerce, is a very similar place as well. I know that. Join your local chamber. Generally they've got a legislative subcommittee. You know, those are the things. I wouldn't join a trade association and stop there. You need to join a trade association and get involved, and I think those two things together can do a lot. And then if it is a unique issue to you or your small business and there doesn't seem to be a broader coalition, then I think it's probably time to start looking at hiring a lobbyist.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, Well, good, Well. Thank you so much for joining us today. How can folks find you if they want to get in touch with you? Instagram, social email.
Speaker 2:On Instagram, on Facebook, but wwwfirestrategiescom fire with a Y.
Speaker 1:Y, very fancy, something different, awesome. Well, thank you again for joining us. Remember, please like, share, follow rate, review, all those fun things we're on Facebook, instagram, tiktok, all the podcast platforms and so forth. And again, you can always email us podcast at papertrailscom. If you have any questions about anything we've talked about or want to see something in the future. We're happy to talk. So, thank you again, we'll see you next week.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this week's episode of a small business Big World. This podcast is a production of Paper Trails. We are a payroll and HR company based in Kennebunk, maine, and we serve small and mid-sized businesses across New England and the country. If you found this podcast helpful, don't forget to follow us at at Paper Trails Payroll across all social media platforms and check us out at papertrailscom for more information. As a reminder, the views, opinions and thoughts expressed by the hosts and guests alone. The material presented in this podcast is for general information purposes only and should not be considered legal or financial advice. By inviting this guest to our podcast, paper Girls does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific individual, organization, product or service.
