Local business owners react to Obama tax plan

Here's a sampling of Long Island business reaction to recent proposals to spur business.

Douglas Manditch

Chairman and chief executive

Empire National Bank

Islandia

"I don't really see capital investments just because there are 100 percent tax breaks," Manditch said. "I think that companies would need to make that investment to start with."

What's more, he said he doesn't believe that the tax break for capital investments would lead to more hiring.

"I don't think that will spur hiring, unfortunately," he said. "The hiring comes from increased demand for products and services, and right now we are not really seeing that."

Besides, he says that another stimulus bill isn't the answer because all the stimulus money authorized hasn't been spent.

Walter Poggi

president

Retlif Testing Laboratories

Ronkonkoma

"I think if there were better investment tax credits, it would certainly help someone like us," said Poggi, whose family-owned business employs about 70 workers. "I could see us adding an additional two or three people next year."

Poggi said a tax credit for investments in research and development, proposed over the weekend, would give his company tangible and immediate tax benefits, and could result in additional hires.

His business requires investments in new technology and equipment regardless of overall conditions or tax policy, in order to meet the demands of its customers, he said, and "if there is something that makes sense for us to invest in, we will. But if we can be incentivized to invest more quickly through tax credits, it's a plus."

For example, his firm is considering an expansion into green technologies, such as testing of batteries or solar equipment, which would require new hires, he said.

Luis Lopez

president

Alante Security Group Inc.

Westbury

"We struggling to say in business and capital investment wouldn't help us," Lopez said. "Our company hires people according to whatever work we get."

He said he would prefer a tax cut for small businesses. He said the state MTA payroll tax imposed earlier this year costs him almost $1,000 every two weeks.

"I had 10 people working for me," he said. "I had to lay off five people because that MTA tax was prejudicial to business. . . . There are so many regulations that hamper small businesses."

And the regulations worsen the challenges small businesses face from stiff competition amid a weak economic environment, he said.

Richard M. Bivone

The RMB Group

East Meadow

Just yesterday, Bivone met with a road repaver to get an estimate on resurfacing his parking lot, damaged by last winter's weather.

As the owner of The RMB Group building consultant firm, he'd welcome a $10,000 tax write-off on the parking lot and the savings would help him pay for a part-time draftsman.

But as the Nassau chair of the Long Island Business Council, he doesn't see Obama's tax proposal doing much good, short of rewriting tax bills for small and midsized firms like his.

"Any tax break will help us, but I think there needs to be an overhaul of the entire system," he said. "You can't turn the economy around on throwing a bone once in a while. There needs to be a serious look at the entire economic structure for small businesses to continue to grow, and a lot of them are failing."

Michael Hernandez

manager

Numa's Florist

Wantagh

After 20 years of looking almost the same, Numa's Florist in Wantagh, has been in the midst of a $40,000-plus face-lift and renovations, a project that the owners hope will give it more presence. Work started in late July and is expected to end in October, so some of the spending won't be written off if the tax break is approved.

With some of that money, Hernandez said, he could rehire two part-time workers laid off in the past year and resume the usual advertising campaign in the media. "Our tax write-off would be well worth the spending," Hernandez said. "The more we can get back, the more we can invest in our business because this is pretty much out of pocket."

June Amoroso

chief executive

Sunrise Medical Laboratories

Hicksville

Amoroso noted that state and local governments have also offered tax breaks to spur hiring. Neither those nor Obama's latest proposal would spur her to hire, she said.

"Those [incentives] really have not been the basis of our decision for hiring," she said. "We hire as to need."

What should the president do? "I think we've really put a lot into our economy," she said. "Right now I think we have to let the dust settle a little. We need to see what happens in the next six months to year."

Long Island is faring better than the nation as a whole, she said. "We hear a lot of doom and gloom on Long Island," she said. "But there are a lot of sectors that are doing very well."