Sher Valenzuela, Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor in Delaware and a Latina small business owner, spoke at the Republican National Convention on August 28. She, along with her husband, own a small upholstery business that currently employs approximately 40 people. The Republicans chose to highlight her speech by giving her a primetime slot to emphasize their “We Built It” convention theme.
what eye thynk: Choosing Ms. Valenzuela to speak at the RNC was undoubtedly viewed by them as great P.R. What better way to promote the GOP party mantra that small businesses are born solely through entrepreneurship and built wholly with personal sweat equity, than to present a woman--and a Hispanic woman to boot--as the prime example of how hard work pays off?
Unfortunately, Ms. Valenzuela is not the perfect poster child they advertised.
I’m going to skip right over the obvious, (her goods are moved on public roads, her business depends on municipal utilities, etc.), and point out her even more blatant I-built-it-alone lie.
In 1998, working with the Small Business Administration, (a federal government agency) and the Delaware Small Business Development and Technology Center, (a state government agency), Ms. Valenzuela received a $20,000 express loan so she and her husband could rent storage space beyond what they were using in their own garage.
In 1999, she and her husband were able to gain larger contracts with the assistance of the Procurement Technical Assistance Center, (a federal government sub-agency within the Small Business Administration).
In 2002, Ms. Valenzuela bragged “We got two loans from the SBA…!” The SBA gave them a $96,000 loan to “modernize and expand our inventory” and, because “the 9/11 tragedy challenged our very existence”, a $65,800 “disaster loan to maintain our business and employees”.
In each year between 2006 and 2011, the Valenzuelas received at least $1.5M in government contracts--contracts that the PTAC helped them to find.
In all, the Valenzuelas have received $2M in loans from the SBA as well as $15M in government contracts, (about two thirds of those non-competitive), through the PTAC. For someone who is supposed to exemplify the we-built-it-alone-no-government-assistance-needed mantra of the Republican party, she sure seems to have used a lot of government money to run her company.
Ms. Valenzuela continues to use government resources to operate her business and encourages others to do the same. In 2001, in a presentation given to a group of women entrepreneurs, she told them to “start with the no cost/low-cost resources that you, the taxpayer, have already paid for”, calling the loans and free business advice available from government agencies her “BIGGEST secret weapon!”.
And Ms. Valenzuela is not the only business owner who has given up their personal integrity to promote the Romney campaign. One among other entreprenueurs being used by the Republican machine to criticize President Obama is Jack Gilchrist, owner of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating, who stars in a Romney ad criticizing President Obama for his “You didn’t build that” line.
Mr. Gilchrist received $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds as well as a loan “somewhere South of $500,000" from the SBA plus matching funds from the federally-funded New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center . His explanation? “I’m not going to turn a blind eye because the money came from the government. As far as I’m concerned, I’m getting some of my tax money back." (“Some” of his tax money back? $1.8M?!) “Shame on me if I didn’t use what’s available.”
No, shame on you, Mr. Gilchrist, for appearing in an ad that suggests otherwise. And shame on you Ms.Valenzuela for allowing yourself to be used to advance a lie.
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