Senator Rand Paul visits Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Business and community leaders got together today to join in a roundtable discussion with Senator Rand Paul.

The senator was in town to discuss the state of the economy and its effect on small businesses around the country. From inflation to interest rates, Senator Paul explained to the attendants how all of those issues on the federal level are affecting them locally.

When asked about a solution to ease burdens on small businesses, Senator Paul offered some advice, “I think the best way is to leave them alone. Most of them are hard-working people. We don’t need to over-regulate them. We need to not overburden them with taxes.”

Business leaders in the community also got the chance to ask the senator questions and talk about their own concerns regarding staying in business while remaining competitive in today’s job market. One of the issues causing concern was some businesses’ inability to find employees willing to work for them. One local business owner spoke about offering sign-on bonuses and still having a difficult time finding staff for his restaurant.

State Senator, Mike Wilson, for District 32 said, “I think that unemployment was one of the big issues which we actually worked on freezing the rates so that they did not go up. The shortage of workers is a huge issue for our labor force, our participation rate is very very low.”

State Representative for District 17, Steve Sheldon is looking forward with optimism and encourages people that want to start a business locally to do so. “I think the economic activity is certainly picking back up, “ he said, “I would encourage people to continue their creativity, their innovations. I think the private sector is absolutely the place we’re going to find the solutions for our economy.”

While encouraging new business will help growth and diversity in our area, local leaders also encourage citizens to support and help those that already exist in the area.

Senator Paul said, “I think small businesses are the backbone of our country,” and, “I think Bowling Green is situated to grow and prosper.”

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