Getting down to business

Despite our best intentions, big government keeps growing, but it’s private sector growth that we’d rather have. It’s what keeps our country moving forward.

The heavy hand of government, especially in California, has a reputation for stifling growth and making it hard for many businesses to succeed.

Workers’ comp, for example, has driven up the cost of doing business in California so much that both producers and consumers are having to suffer. These licenses, fees, regulations and other expenses imposed by government agencies have little to do with the actual cost of production, and that’s a problem.

Take housing prices, for example. That only about 14 percent of area residents can afford the median-priced home of $615,000 has to do with more than just supply and demand. The housing bubble is caused in large part by the sluggish entitlement process and the costs that are incurred when developers have to jump through hoops to receive regulatory approval.

Back to the business theme.

In California, over 90 percent of businesses have fewer than 100 employees. Small-to-medium-sized businesses form the backbone of our community and should be supported at every opportunity.

What can we do to support business? We can write to our state and county representatives and ask them to be the "invisible hand" that our founding fathers meant them to be. That would be a start.

And one more thing. Come celebrate with some of your local businesses at the April 9 Spring Fest and Business Expo in Oak Park, sponsored by the Agoura/Oak Park/Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce and The Acorn. It’s a great chance to meet your mom and pops and other professionals doing business in the area. Find out what they have to offer and what their concerns are for the future. Your local merchants are good people and deserve our recognition.

There will be vendor booths, entertainment, giveaways and prizes—a seven-day cruise, box seats to the Lakers and a weekend in Las Vegas, among others. Most of all, it’s a perfect way to say hello to some of the special people who’ve helped make our community great.

For more information about the Spring Fest and Business Expo, April 9 at the Oak Park Community Center, call 889-3150.

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