SIDNEY — The Rotary Club of Sidney hosted Joe Hirabayashi, Ohio member support manager of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), at its weekly meeting, Monday, June 12.
Hirabayashi was welcomed by Rotary Club Vice President Duane Gaier, who conducted the meeting.
“Ohio has greater NFIB membership than any other state,” Hirabayashi told the Rotarians. “Although we have more than 315,000 members throughout the 50 states, about 25,000 of those members have businesses in Ohio.
“A big part of what NFIB/Ohio does is monitor pieces of legislation that impact the small business community. A huge reason our members join us is that they do not have the time to track all of these bills on their own,” Hirabayashi stated.
Hirabayashi discussed legislation the NFIB is currently supporting in the Ohio General Assembly. He spoke specifically about the centralized collection of the income tax, and how the NFIB believed that centralized collection would benefit small businesses.
“The NFIB is the leading advocate for small business-owners,” Hirabayashi said. “Our mission is to defend the right of small business-owners to run their businesses without undue government interference and to advance public policies that promote their success. Our average member has 15 or fewer employees and less than $2 million in gross revenue. However, we have some members who are quite large, but still see the value in the services we offer.”
Each member has an equal vote, Hirabayashi noted, and members nationwide are from every industry and sector.
“We are the only major business organization whose policies and positions are established by the members directly, not by executive staff or a board of directors. That’s what makes us credible, widely respected and effective,” he said.
Hirabayashi spoke briefly about the NFIB Small Business Legal Center, the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation, the NFIB Research Center, as well as the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index.
Hirabayashi lauded the work of Rotarian John Bertsch, owner of Detailed Machining, who chairs the NFIB Area Action Council for Shelby and Auglaize counties. Bertsch spoke briefly about what he saw as the advantages of his membership in the organization.
