He spoke with several downtown business owners.
Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md) (Photo from Senator Cardin’s Office)
Frederick, Md (KM) A special guest paid a visit to Frederick on Tuesday. Senator Ben Cardin (D) toured local downtown businesses, learning about the biggest challenges facing merchants as they work to survive and thrive. “We listened to shop owners and their concerns on getting workforce that they need, on dealing with credit,” he said. “The concerns of small businesses as we are trying to reauthorized the small business laws.”
Cardin is the chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. “Basically, they need to be able to get through the bureaucracy, get the help that they need, fund their business, create jobs, find better ways to do things,” he said.
Senator Cardin says he will be working on legislation to assist small businesses. “We’ve already passed through our committee a revision of the loan programs through the SBA {Small Business Administration} to open up opportunities for smaller small businesses,” he said.
As part of his tour, Senator Cardin held a small business roundtable at the Chamber of Commerce, and took a tour of Frederick Municipal Airport.
Cardin says he has requested more than $22-million in federal funding for Frederick County for fiscal year 2024. “These are public works projects, such as flood control, and dealing with some of the challenges that we have regarding the infrastructure,” he says. “Some of it are social programs to help those that are vulnerable working with non-profits in Frederick County. Some of those are educational partnerships working with schools.”
By Kevin McManus