Iowa Secretary of State encourages small business

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate knew his audience when he spoke Wednesday at the Creston Chamber of Commerce.

His family owning a pavement construction company based in Cedar Rapids, Pate said he understands issues owners have with business.

“A dump truck isn’t working right, a customer is complaining,” he said. “I get it.”

Despite the challenges, Pate said Iowa and its small business owners get it too.

“The backbone of our economy is small business,” he said. It is those places that sponsor the Little League ball teams each summer and are involved in other community activity.

“They live here, too, and all work together,” he said. Using a choir analogy, Pate hopes all of Iowa’s small business owners are joining together to sing the praises of working in Iowa to attract more people to come to Iowa and Union County.

Pate said Iowa is showing growth in small business. There have been more new businesses open in seven of the past eight years. Creston Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ellen Gerharz added Creston has had business growth since COVID passed.

“We are on the right track. We are in the right direction,” he said, adding how visits to some towns in the mid 1990s included storefronts with plywood over windows. “It was not a fun time.”

Pate hopes small business owners are knowledgeable of all the services his office and other state departments offer, wanting to avoid people only knowing of those services when they “need it.”

“I want us to be ahead,” he said.

Pate knows there are still challenges with small business development, despite the positive efforts in recent years. He knows a town needs housing, jobs and infrastructure for it to grow. But what should come first on that list?

“We need it all at the same time,” said Wayne Pantini, vice president of economic development at Southwestern Community College. He added new townhouses on West Adams Street in the past couple of years have been the newest addition of multi-residential housing in 50 years in Creston.

Pate said the economy and housing market is are changing the definition of the American dream of home ownership. It was noted during the meeting how Cardinal Glass in Greenfield is using Creston hotels to house employees and they are transported to and from the factory.

The audience was informed of litigation involving the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in 2021 is to curb illicit finance, requires many companies doing business to report information about the individuals who ultimately own or control them. An Alabama Federal Court ruled in March the act is unconstitutional.

Pate encouraged the audience to be more aware of happenings in Iowa, regardless of the size of town. Two years ago Pate began a statewide alliance with Iowa’s business community to end human trafficking. Several of the state’s largest trade organizations have already joined the Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking (IBAT) coalition.

Membership in IBAT is open to any business or nonprofit organization that operates in Iowa and shares a commitment to taking steps to promote awareness of human trafficking and the Iowa Safe at Home program. Safe at Home is an address confidentiality program for survivors of human trafficking and other violent crimes. Both IBAT and Safe at Home are administered by Secretary Pate’s office.

“It’s here,” he said about trafficking, “in Creston and every other town. It’s not what Hollywood says, it’s more complicated.”

Pate’s office is also behind the Safe at Home initiative to protect domestic violence victims. He said he has participation in all 99 counties. People are given unique drivers licenses to protect their residency from their assailants. Other services are offered.