Staff Report
Published Nov. 2, 2009

Two S.C. small-business owners will be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to speak with their congressional representatives and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about small businesses’ need for health care reform.

Chuck Williams, co-owner of Electronic Health Network in Charleston, and Sue Veer, CEO of Carolina Health Centers in Greenwood, will accompany more than 100 small-business owners from 24 states. Williams and Veer both serve on the board of directors for the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce.

“Our elected officials need to hear that it’s essential to small businesses that our broken healthcare system is fixed now,” said Chuck Williams, who says he can’t afford health insurance for his business partners or himself because of the cost. “We’re looking to hire full-time employees next year, and the No. 1 thing they want is health care. But the way things are now, we couldn’t afford to offer it. I want to look into my elected officials’ eyes and tell them how badly we need reform.”  

Small business’s Day in DC is sponsored by the following organizations:

• American Booksellers Association.
• American Independent Business Alliance.
• Business Forward.
• Consumers Union.
• Employee Benefits Cooperative.
• Main Street Alliance.
• National Council of Asian American Businesses.
• National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
• New Voice of Business.
• Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership.
• Small Business Majority.
• U.S. Public Interest Research Group.