OP/ED: You Can Make it Happen

The recent statement of President Obama made chills go up my spine:  "If you've got a business - you didn't build that.  Somebody else made that happen." 

This flies in the face of those of us who believe in the American Dream: that if you work hard and make good decisions, you have the opportunity to achieve your dreams and be a success in whatever you pursue, regardless of where you came from or what you started with. You can make it happen. 

Will you get help along the way? Sure, but it's your efforts, commitment and ingenuity that make the difference.  To say that someone else did it is an insult to those who have risked it all to leave their countries to pursue the dream here, or those who have worked seven days a week for years, and who endured sleepless nights, made countless sacrifices, or remortgaged their home to keep their companies going.  There is no guarantee of success.  But most Americans believe in strength of individuals and the power of perseverance, personal decision making and self-direction, and the knowledge that if you lose it all you have the opportunity start over again.   This is a key part of our economic freedom.

As an entrepreneur myself, I can remember numerous nights sleeping on the floor of my small business as I worked incessantly day and night to get it open and make it a success.  No one did it for me.  Maybe that's why the President's remarks were so alarming and offensive.  In New Hampshire, we have roughly 100,000 small businesses in our state.  Having spoken with thousands of them, I can tell you the individuals that created these companies did in fact build them and should be proud of their accomplishments.

As founder and Chair of the NH House Business Coalition, I lead a group of over 100 State Representatives who believe strongly that it is the individuals and the small business owners of our state, that create jobs - not because someone else gave them something or did the work - but because these entrepreneurs had the vision, the commitment, the work ethic, the desire and belief in themselves that they could succeed.

As a Legislator, I know that it's not the government's role to create jobs.  It's the small business owners of this state that start companies, invest in them, grow the economy, and hire people.  The House Business Coalition's role has been and continues to be to get government out of the way, removing unnecessary, costly bureaucracy and red tape, so responsible employers can do what they do best.   

We will not substantially improve the economy and foster job creation in our country as long as we have a President that disrespects individual effort and achievement.  What we need now is a leader who appreciates and encourages job creators, who understands how hard small business owners really do work, and who believes that the American people, not the government are the solution. 

Success in life starts with a dream, a belief in yourself and your ability to accomplish your goals.  Let's not let our government take this away from us.

Laurie Sanborn is a small business owner, and is running for re-election as a State Representative for the towns of Bedford and Amherst.