Green Energy Grants tied to Small Business Survival?

Since there are grants available for green energy entrepreneurs, and since businesses such as our own face the possibility that if the Cap and Tax Bill passes that it will become too expensive to continue to produce our line in America- which has been our committment since 1952, when our company was established with the philosophy of creating a hand made product affordable for the middle classes - I am wondering if there is a way for the recipient of green energy "stimulus" grants to develop energy saving windmill technology at a drastically reduced cost for busnesses threatened by what is reported to be a 40% hike in the cost of energy - or in Obama's own words Cap N Tax will "necessarily skyrocket everybodies energy consumption"



We would also like to develop an plan for transforming our family business into a private economy business that we can leave to the benefit of future generations- and since such a plan would involve creating new production spaces, it could be designed as an energy efficient, environmentally controlled building. I do not know how any manufacturing can survive in the country if energy costs go up 40 percent unless they have access to an inexpensive form of energy such as windmill technology is reported to be.

Slip-cast production provides for meaningful and satisfying work. Our best employees have always come from the deeply rooted Maine community. Meaningful work is important to well being. It took years of difficult struggle to get our business off the ground through bootstrap capitalization. It would be a shame to see it lost forever.

But these days with Obama targeting those making over 250 thousand dollars for escalated extraction of funds to finance a rapidly increasing federally controlled government, even boot-strap capitalization is being threatened. Small businesses that file as s-corporations report business profits on a personal return. The profits reported on personal returns are used for both personal expenditures and re-invested into the business as "boot-strap capitalization”. The more the government extracts to fill its own pockets, the less there is available for the bootstrap capitalization of the small business economy

The upside – maybe this is a good time for investing in slow growth businesses, that might see a escalation in profitability in the future, when we may have a more private economy friendly administration.

Andersen Studio starts the Art of Handcrafted Production meetup group

Andersen Studio has started a meetup group for handcrafted productions at http://www.meetup.com/The-Art-of-Hand-Crafted-Production/

This is a meetup venue for small hand crafted production enterprises to collaborate on our mutual concerns and to stimulate a grass roots economic movement that benefits the Main Street economy.

The Main Street economy is a forgotten faction, which is receiving little benefit from "stimulus" funds while it is experiencing the credit freeze that TARP funds were supposed to ameliorate.

Production crafters are often overlooked by non-profit arts organizations and state-run arts commissions while we contribute to the real wealth of our country, the basis of the real economy from which the funds that finance government and non-profit organizations are derived.

Because we are small, we are often overlooked. As a group of small productions we become a more effective force for addressing government and, if necessary, for promoting legislation, for pooling resources and benefits, and for increasing awareness about the social and economic value that small production crafters add to the cultural and economic landscape.

Not only can we provide jobs, but also we can provide meaningful, interesting and diverse jobs. This is a call for production crafters to unite in the interests of our industry, our country, and for the preservation of an American way of life that is unique and individualistic.

All production crafters, would-be production crafters, entrepreneurs and other interested parties are herby invited to participate in The Art of Production grassroots meeting ground.