By Gillian Graham
Staff Writer

    Area business leaders told Sen. Olympia Snowe they are concerned about health care and credit card costs as they focus on strengthening their businesses in a struggling economy.
    Snowe talked to business owners during a small business forum Jan. 13 at the Holiday Inn Express in Saco. The event was hosted by the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was attended by about 100 business leaders from the greater Biddeford-Saco region.
    Snowe, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, was joined on the panel by Jeanne Hulit, Small Business Administration Region I administrator; Mike Bourret, executive director of the Coastal Counties Workforce Board; Tarren Bragdon, chief executive officer of the Maine Heritage Policy Center; Chris Pinkham, president of Maine Association of Community Banks; Paul Schumacher, executive director of the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission; and Chamber Executive Director Craig Pendleton.
    Snowe told business owners she feels all health care reform proposals need to be carefully evaluated to see how they will affect small businesses. She said small Maine businesses are a “model for the rest of the country” and the government must find out the best ways to help them be successful.
    “We have to learn from you and hear from you directly,” she said. “Ultimately, we’re depending on Main Street and small businesses to lead us out of the recession. We have to determine what we can do better.”
    Snowe said it is “critical” to have more lending to create and preserve jobs. She also said she is concerned that increases in government health care spending disproportionately affect small businesses. Small businesses in Maine are struggling to cope with “skyrocketing” increases in insurance premiums that threaten their ability to provide insurance for employees, she said.
    Jim Willey, executive vice president of Canteen Service Co. of Saco and Lewiston, told the panel his company cannot keep sustaining increases in insurance premiums. The company currently pays 60 percent of insurance costs for employees. He asked if the federal government will be able to keep premium increases down.
    Snowe said lawmakers need to examine what contributes to rate increases and make sure plans are affordable for small businesses.
“We need to have answers to those questions. The status quo is unacceptable, unsustainable and unconscionable,” she said.
    Rick Snow of Maine Indoor Karting in Scarborough said his company struggles to shift to different insurance plans to combat rising costs. He said he would like more options for health care plans, both in terms of coverage and price.
    Snowe said she supports the idea of having national insurance plans and providing businesses with more options. Those types of reforms are resisted by the insurance industry because the insurance companies don’t want competition, she said.
    Andy Charles, owner of Haven’s Candies in Scarborough, said he is “scared to death about how I’ll continue to be able to afford insurance plans for my employees.” But said he is equally concerned about credit card interchange fees, which businesses pay each time a customer uses a credit card.
    Charles said his company pays about $20,000 a year in credit card fees, which he would prefer to use to offset high insurance costs. He asked Snowe what Congress can do to regulate the fees. Snowe said the fees are “astronomical” and lawmakers need to correct “egregious” business practices.
    Snowe concluded the panel by encouraging small business owners to continue an open dialogue with the government about their needs.
“You’re unsung heroes as far as I’m concerned,” she said. “We’re depending on small businesses to turn the economy around.”
    Before the panel, Gov. John Baldacci spoke to Chamber members about the importance of job growth and development. The ingenuity of the Maine business community has served the state well, he said.
    “We’re still two points below the national average in terms of unemployment,” he said. “I think Maine is holding its own in a really tough time.”
    Baldacci praised the Biddeford-Saco area for its “innovative  people and businesses in this vibrant area.”
    “There’s a lot of really positive things going on here,” he said.
    Baldacci said he thinks it is important to attract research and development as well as cutting-edge technologies to the state.
    “We want jobs with good benefits in our state,” he said. “People don’t want a handout, they want the ability to provide for themselves.”
During a short question and answer session, Baldacci heard from the mayors of Biddeford and Saco. Biddeford Mayor Joanne Twomey spoke about the difficulties cities face as the state budget is cut and needs of residents continue to grow. She suggested the governor consider taxing people from out-of-state skiers to help minimize budget cuts.
    Saco Mayor Ron Michaud said his city has tried to work closely with Biddeford to consolidate services and suggested there should be positive incentives for communities to work together. He said the idea of regionalizing services is a “great tool” for communities.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.