You may have seen the City of Placerville made news recently when the city council considered. then put off, a decision on whether to remove a hangman’s noose from the city’s logo. In the early Gold Rush Days, Placerville was known as Hangtown. It’s the city’s colorful past that brings tourists to this quaint town in the foothills outside Sacramento to stroll Main Street, make purchases, and importantly, help fund through those purchases a number of government functions. That’s the story I want you to hear.
The City of Placerville, with a population of around 11,000, is designated a California Historical Landmark. Placerville is reliant on small businesses to do important municipal work. One-quarter of Placerville’s General Fund is generated by small businesses as is one-quarter of special funds used to improve roads and replace worn out water pipes. If small businesses collapse and tourism goes away, Placerville’s budget is in big trouble.
As the city’s mayor, Michael Saragosa, said, “It’s all of our small businesses with their unique offerings and celebration of our Gold Rush history that makes Placerville a draw for tourists across the nation. Without our small businesses thriving, we stand to lose significant tourism business as well as residents looking to other locales for their shopping needs.”
At Kabateck Strategies, we work hand in hand with our client, NFIB/California, to not only promote small business, but also protect small businesses in the halls of the legislature where decisions are made that have great consequences on the small business community. We strive to help people with an entrepreneurial spirit, many women and minorities, who want to be their own boss, build a business from the bottom up with as little obstruction as possible so that they can create jobs and contribute to their communities.
Obstruction is often created by policy and the policy’s affiliated politics. That’s where Kabateck Strategies can play an effective role.
The survival of small business equates to a healthy public sector as well. The lesson of Placerville can be seen in other cities and towns across California. We are doing all we can at Kabateck Strategies to spread the word.
You can read more about Placerville and its small businesses in my column published by Capitol Weekly.
