Delaware Democrats Take On Valenzuela

Filed in Delaware by on August 28, 2012

I just got a media advisory about a conference call about to proceed.  I’ll post more info as it comes across on the call.

Delaware Democratic Party Executive Director Joe Aronson and and small business owner Gemma Buckley will hold a press call ahead of Sher Valenzuela’s speech at the Republican National Convention on the night themed “We Built It.”  Although Sher will say she built her business all on her own, her company, First State Manufacturing, has taken OVER $2 MILLION IN SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION-GUARANTEED LOANS and has obtained more than $15 million in government contracts.

“The President believes in the importance of a partnership between government and business to help small business succeed, which is why he has fought for 18 small business tax cuts that help them hire and make job-creating investments in equipment that grow their businesses,” said Joe Aronson.  “And Ms. Valenzuela clearly does, too.  But saying she built her business all on her own – that’s just hypocritical and not true.”

“My husband and I have worked incredibly hard to conceive and build the Ninth Street Book Shop,” said Ms. Buckley.  “But as President Obama has said, we didn’t do it alone.  We even received a small business loan ourselves to open our new location in June.”

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  1. liberalgeek says:

    Aronson is on first. He referred to Sher as the “poster child” of government helping small businesses. $3.9M in 2009. 300K in stimulus funds.

    FSM clearly demonstrates the importance of government partnering with small businesses.

  2. liberalgeek says:

    Bryon Short up next discussing his small business caucus.

    He is listing the large number of state programs that support small business in Delaware.

    Gemma Buckley of the 9th St. Bookstore is up next.

  3. liberalgeek says:

    The Buckley’s got assistance from the city of Wilmington to get a 30K loan to move their shop to a new location.

  4. liberalgeek says:

    DSN question: Why did the Republicans choose Sher?

    Aronson: I’m not really sure… Choosing Republicans from Delaware is slim pickins.

  5. liberalgeek says:

    and that’s a wrap…

  6. John Manifold says:

    Has Dennis P. Williams ever been seen at Ninth Street Books? At either location? He’s had 29 years.

  7. Mike Matthews says:

    Love the Buckleys. This GOP foolishness would all be so hilarious if it weren’t so frightfully pathetic.

  8. JJ says:

    I am pleased that the Buckleys have a great new location, and love browsing all the indie bookshops. To clarify: The News Journal reported that some of that 30K loan is “forgivable.” I’d like to know more about these city assistance programs becuase if they forgive a portion of the loan after a fixed time, they are partial ‘gifts and/or economic incentives’, and not a ‘true loan’ as that term is defined. Would like to see these programs more publicized so more folks can take advantage of this assistance.

    Yes, Dennis has been seen there. He has likely arrested lawbreakers in front of Ninth Street books so that small business folks can make a profit and thrive in a safe neighborhood. Anyway, he is high tech: He owns a Kindle, like most folks do nowadays.

  9. mary says:

    sher is their “joe the plumber” a poor little woman with a mexican husband who has risen like a phoenix in the business world..with the help of a lot of govt money.

  10. Joan Deaver says:

    Valenzuela spoke at Amer. Legion Post 28 and said over & over, I’ll bring jobs, but she didn’t give any details, such as a plan. Her presentaion was emotion and no substance. Very dramatic, no facts. I found that she appeals to many in this polarized atmosphere.

  11. Linda Creasy says:

    Sher and her husband Eli are personal friends of mine, and I can assure you,that she EARNED every bit of the success her business now enjoys. She is an intelligent, determined, and persistent woman who was wise enough to enlist the support of SBA and other assistance programs that have been in place since well before the current administration took office.

    While she, like so many others, takes issue with President Obama’s “You didn’t bulid that” statement, she is has always maintained that government does have a place in supporting new businesses, just not determining the winners vs. losers. As is so typically done by the left when faced with a challenge to their opinion, her stand on government assistance for businesses has been grossly misrepresented. Here is an ACTUAL quote from Sher on the topic vs. the twisted nonsense reported by the mainstream media:

    “Make no mistake, it’s the entrepreneur’s blood, sweat and tears that’s the key to any small business succeeding. That’s why the President’s exact quote – “you didn’t build it – someone else did” – rings hollow with me.”

    “Government alone can’t build our economy. It should help create overall economic conditions that foster business growth and offer the encouragement and support business needs to thrive in today’s global economy. U.S. Small Business Administration-supported programs like SCORE, which provides assistance with the creation of business plans, and SBA backed loans, are resources millions of entrepreneurs across the country like me have used with great results for our economy.”

    It was her diligence in seeking this type of support needed to get First State Manufacturing off the ground, followed by her exemplary business skills that led to their current success. Said skills, by the way, will serve Sher well as Delaware’s next Lt. Governor!

  12. puck says:

    Sher is the Little Red Hen in reverse: Everybody helps her make the bread, but then she wants to eat it all herself.

  13. anon says:

    I would agree with you Linda except that FSM has been steadily taking government loans and grants from the time they opened their doors until the present. They didn’t just use government money to “get off the ground” they use it virtually every year. In 2009 they even took $300,000 in ARRA stimulus money. Linda, was FSM “off the ground” yet in 2009? FSM turns a profit every year, but the Town of Milford is paying their utility bills, why?

    I call BS on Linda. And on Sher Valenzuela.

    Somewhere, Lt. Governor Matt Denn is laughing his ass off. He tracks ARRA stimulus funds. He knows exactly how Sher built her business.

    Denn 65% Valenzuela 35%

  14. Geezer says:

    “it’s the entrepreneur’s blood, sweat and tears that’s the key to any small business succeeding.”

    Sorry, but that’s bullshit. If it were true, blood, sweat and tears would guarantee success, and they don’t.

    The modern Republican is trying to enthrone an aristocracy, this time based on wealth instead of breeding — at least until the estate tax is eliminated for good. Then it will be back to their breeding, I suspect.

  15. j marie says:

    Aren’t the purpose of no-bid contracts to give an advantage to one very particular business at the expense other, possibly less expensive and more productive companies, not to mention- due diligence. That would be “picking winners and losers”.

  16. Duke Brooks says:

    Quite a few commenters have obviously never started or owned their own business. The Gov’t. could SHOVEL money at a company and it STILL might fail (Solyndra), or a company could get NOT ONE DIME from the gov’t. and it may be successful (Microsoft). As far as no-bid contracts are concerned, thousands of those are awarded nationwide every year. (Nobody but the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics builds nuclear submarines, for example.) Grants, loans, guarantees, contracts…all those things don’t matter if the entrepreneur doesn’t have superior judgment, diligence and a serious work ethic. Instead of casting aspersions at Sher and Eli, one should try to start one’s own company…maybe the town of Milford will pay YOUR utility bill this time next year.

  17. cassandra_m says:

    Sorry Duke. No one is making the claim that the folks who run FSM don’t know what they are doing. Just that they have no business pretending that they did it all on their own when they had every advantage the Government could offer to leverage from. And for the record, you’d have to be fairly stupid to not be able to be successful when the government is handing you contracts hand over fist that you don’t have to compete for.

  18. puck says:

    Where’s the “no-bid” thing coming from; is there any evidence? I’ve been pretty critical but I didn’t see any evidence of straight-up no-bid contracts (apart from the stated preferences); did I miss it?

    I mean, at least they had to compete against other minority service disabled veteran owned businesses in disadvantaged areas, right?

  19. Puck–I believe someone posted FSM no-bid info from usaspending.gov a few days ago.

  20. SussexAnon says:

    If you are a gov’t contractor, you can become no-bid if you meet certain qualifications.

    Its a second level of hurdles to cross on your way to sweetheart gov’t contracting deals.

  21. Linda Creasy says:

    Cassandra – neither Sher nor FSM has ever stated that they “did it all on their own.” Where on earth is THAT coming from? If anything, they have gone out of their way to express their appreciation for the assistance they received.

    Indeed, part of her platform is the development of “Business Accelerators” across Delaware, partnering entrepreneurs with private businesses, government agencies and educational institutions to maximize access to public and private resources for start-up and early stage businesses.

    You may disagree with her political views, but misrepresenting her statements only serves to weaken your argument. It’s a common tactic for many liberals, but I had hoped to observe a higher standard here.

  22. SussexAnon says:

    Sher misrepresents herself by appearing at the RNC Convention on “I built that” night. Perhaps if in her RNC speech she had mentioned the help she received from SBA loans and Stimulus money we wouldn’t be pointing it out. Gee, I wonder why that is left out of her speech and campaign info.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMjieeJUJPc&feature=related – Sher expressing her displeasure with Obamas “you didn’t build that” comment.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSf8LQhT-GI&feature=relmfu – Sher in a 20 min. interview not mentioning once their “appreciation for the assistance they received”

    There are other video clips of candidate Sher deliberatly omitting any mention of gov’t assistance, stimulus money or SBA loans. The only loan mentioned that I can find is a $5000 loan from Mom to start the biz.

    If you have a link or quote of Sher showing appreciation for the assistance they received, I would love to see it.

  23. Dave says:

    I posted the original competition information. Under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), contractors (bidders) and contracts (government requirements) fall into certain categories. For instance there are women owned, veterans, disabled veterans, small business (various categories), mentor, protege, historically black colleges, universities/academic institutions, federal funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), et al.

    Contracts can fall into various categories such as fixed price, cost plus, cost plus incentive, cost plus fixed fee, etc.

    The type of competition depends on the value of the contract, the technical requirements, the sources available to meet the requirements, etc.

    The result of this assessment is a categorization of a contracted effort as Full and Open Competition, 8A Set Aside, Sole Source, Follow On, etc.

    Some of the categories for the FSM contracts which were non-competitive were:

    SDVOSBC: SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN OWNED SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE
    8AN: 8(A) SOLE SOURCE (small business category)
    SP1: SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION
    SSS: ONLY ONE SOURCE
    and others.

    I know this is TMI but I wanted to be clear that there is a variety of ways in which the federal government levels the playing field in government contracting for the small guys and other categories of business who want to do business with the federal government.

    FSM qualified for and received preferential treatment (under federal regulations). The message is, government provides a helping hand. Yes they often screw up royally but are not the Great Satan that the extreme right makes them out to be.

  24. cassandra_m says:

    You know Linda, someone who can repeat this with a straight face:
    That’s why the President’s exact quote – “you didn’t build it – someone else did” – rings hollow with me.”

    has NO business correcting anyone else. Because the first problem here is that Sher and the rest of the GOP *are* specifically misquoting the President, in an effort to make themselves look superior. It is the big reason why we keep pointing out what a hypocrite she is. She is mindlessly following her party’s direction and starting that direction with a lie — the one that misquotes the President. If she wants to be part of the argument against government, then she needs to stop being obviously reliant on it.

    So save your lecture on misrepresenting anybody until you run off to correct Sher on the misquote of the President.

  25. heragain says:

    People who are “against government” are sure working hard to get a job in it. Anyone who wants to “cut costs in government” as their platform should start by turning over their paychecks and benefits to the taxpayers.

    It’s like a PETA activist trying to get elected to a slaughterhouse. One has to wonder what mischief they plan.