Inflation is low and steady at 1.9%. Wages went up again in June (1.3%). Energy and food prices are down. Private sector employment is up. If you have a 401K, annuity, or other market-based investment, it is likely doing well, which is good news for retirees and union pension funds, and states and municipalities with other sorts of retirement investments. The overall economic picture is positive, but the Concord Monitor managed to find a local business that is unsure about its future (through no fault of its own, we must assume).
New Hampshire’s only manufacturer of wood stoves says it is being buffeted by costs and confusion from two different directions — tariffs and taxes — that will hurt sales and may lead to layoffs.
“We’re in a state of enormous uncertainty, which if you’re in my shoes, you want to avoid at all costs – but you can’t avoid it,” said Tom Morrisey, owner of the Woodstock Soapstone Co. in West Lebanon. “It’s almost like we’re dealing with a government that wants to put us out of business.”
I’m a big fan of local, and I have a fireplace insert (bought locally), and I’m down with the wood-burning thing. Primary or secondary heat. It’s a big deal around here. The future of a local business that builds unique woodstoves with high-quality appeal is appealing to me. But their only supplier of cast iron is in Spain. Not all the steel they buy is domestic. Their soapstone supplier is in Canada.
I’m guessing the Woodstock Soapstone Co., which builds these fine custom woodstoves, got manhandled by the political response to COVID. How did they manage with a global supply chain FUBAR’d and all the lockdown nonsense? You won’t find the answer on the Concord Monitor’s pages. The only search result for that business is the article I linked to for this story.
Another concern for ownership is the end of clean energy tax credits. Buyers could use your money to get themselves a higher-end woodstove. If history and human nature are any indication, the bulk of those purchases were by people who could afford them without the credit. Whether that holds here or not is irrelevant. The loss of a taxpayer-funded incentive for which your business benefits is not, in my world, a hardship.
Ending those giveaways, which are primarily used for solar and wind, will free up billions of dollars that the government will no longer have to steal from people, most of whom are not your customers. The downstream benefit of that is an increased likelihood of disposable income used across every business sector, including retail and service industries. Locals can consider not just eating out again but giving a bigger tip, which, by the way, will no longer be taxed.
Another benefit of having a president whose Tariffs might necessarily create unpredictability until they have adequately addressed trade deficits and other unfair trade practices (with every nation), is that Trump prevented a massive impending tax on small businesses like yours, plus lots of of ther benefits.
Permanent 20% Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction
Immediate Deductions for R&D Expenses
Expanded Write-Offs for Property and Equipment (100% Sec. 179 expensing).
Enhanced Tax Credits for Employee Benefits
- Paid Leave Tax Credit: Helps offset the costs of providing paid leave, even for businesses in states where leave is required.
- Childcare Expense Credit: Businesses can now claim up to 50% of childcare costs, encouraging the setup of on-site or shared childcare services.
- Student Loan Repayment Credit: Employers can contribute up to $5,250 toward employees’ student loans tax-free.
Simplified IRS Reporting for Payment Apps
1099 Threshold Increase: The threshold for issuing 1099s is raised to $2,000 from $600 and will be indexed to inflation moving forward
The good these changes do for small businesses now is significant, which is likely why, despite the Monitor’s reporting, “Sentiment among US small businesses climbed to a five-month high in July as owners grew more upbeat about the economic outlook, fueling a pickup in expansion plans.”
Tariffs are admittedly a challenge, there’s no denying that, but the long-term upside is significant. And while you wait, Mr. Trump has done yeoman’s work attracting trillions in new domestic investment and commitments to move manufacturing back to the US, in part because of lessons learned during COVID, to create more US jobs, and to secure domestic supply chains for everything, including stuff used to make high-end woodstoves.
Not that the Woodstock Soapstone Co. needs to wait. You are buying from Spain and Canada, but if stability is a concern, you could buy in the US, which would employ Americans instead of Spaniards and Canadians.
Maybe that Spanish iron is the best cast iron ever. Beautiful cast iron like you’ve never seen before. And the Woodstock Soapstone Co. is probably a great place with wonderful owners, happy employees, and great products. And maybe the Concord Monitor, being the Trump-hating TDS bastion that it is, left out anything good the owner had to say about the recent changes for small businesses since Trump took office. Maybe the reporter never asked, so we only have what we can see.
It is also likely true that the Concord Monitor’s editors are globalists, and it would never occur to them to ask. Nor would they include any positive small business news or speak with someone who is benefiting or would say as much. No such person could exist in their narrow minds, so no point looking.
That’s not new, and it isn’t going to change, and not just because the Monitor’s newsroom is a clone of almost every other. CNN tried to shift to the middle, and its viewers hated on them for it, so they moved left again. I expect the fishwrap is no different. They’ll never get out of that rut, but if they can make enough money to keep deeper state propaganda in print in the New Hampshire State Capital, that might be good enough for them.
And that leaves the other side, and more often than not the actual truth, for us to report.
