Are any of you aware of small
businesses being put out of business by the Federal government. See story
below. Do you have any thoughts?
Are any of you aware of
situations where the state has taken away business from small businesses. I
know some of the small businesses selling food products to the government have
lost business because prisoners are selling to government agencies. It is my
understanding they can’t even bid on this.
Are any of you impact by this.
Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@cal-insure.com
415-680-2188
--------------
Hello Scott,
I hope you’re doing well. We’re working on a story and
wanted to get your thoughts on it. The story concerns a small business owner
who is one of many across the country who will soon be out of business due to
the Federal Government’s decision to sell their product themselves instead of
continuing to contract out to sell their product. In this case the product is
coffee, and it’s the VA who is canceling contracts for some businesses that
have coffee shops inside the VA. They’re now going to be selling Starbucks
brand coffee in their cafeterias instead of having him there selling his
product which he has been for the last fifteen years.
How do you feel about a business being taken over by the
feds
How often do the feds do this kind of wholesale takeover
when independent contractors seem to be doing a fine job on their own?
What could be next – would other concession businesses be in
the governments away?? Have they already gone away? Newstands? Shoe
shiners?
What’s next?
Below is an article on this incident and background info
– let me know.
Thx.
Mike
Coffee Shop Owner:
Getting Shut Down by V.A., Starbucks
By Gabrielle Karol
Published May 22,
2013
FOXBusiness
Reuters
There's a coffee
war brewing inside America's V.A. Medical Centers that threatens to oust
long-established mom-and-pop businesses in favor of a Starbucks-affiliated
chain.
At stake is more
than a cup-o'-Joe - for a lot of vendors, it's their livelihood.
Ken Gilmore, who
owns and operates Epiphany Coffee and Tea, which for 15 years has been serving
up coffee and snacks inside the V.A. Medical Center in Sacramento, California,
says the government-run agency has not extended his contract, and instead will open
a PatriotsBrew, a chain shop already operating in more than 115 V.A. Medical
Centers.
Stacy
Papachrisanthou, the director of marketing and communications for the Veterans
Canteen Services (VCS), says the conversion of contractor-run coffee shops into
PatriotBrews comes from the desire to offer veterans and their families "a
more consistent assortment" of healthier snacks and beverages, including
Starbucks brand coffees.
Over the past five
years, the PatriotBrew initiative has converted 30 coffee shop contractors to
PatriotBrews. Papachrisanthou says when the vendors' contracts are up, they're
given notice that their shops will change over to VCS management. At that
point, owners and their employees are offered the opportunity to become
employees of PatriotBrew.
That's one offer
Gilmore says he can refuse.
Gilmore says he
currently makes $3,300 a month running Epiphany Coffee and Tea - and the salary
at PatriotBrew would only be $15 an hour.
"I'm the sole
supporter of my family - I can't pay my mortgage on $15 an hour," says
Gilmore. Even though the position would come with the benefits given to federal
employees, Gilmore says the switch still wouldn't be worth it.
He adds he's been
trying to cut back on stress since having two heart attacks, but the idea of
having to start over In 90 days has been weighing heavily on his mind.
Will Veterans Pay
the Price?
Gilmore says he
sees the decision to oust contractors as financially motivated, rather than
stemming from the desire to provide vets with more healthy options.
He says he has a
contact within the V.A. who told him, "If they run everything and have
licensing with Starbucks, they end up potentially making more than just having
a vendor run it. It's my understanding that prices will be higher."
While higher
prices could be less affordable for veterans patronizing the V.A.'s coffee
shops, more revenue for the V.A. could help provide better services to
veterans.
Papachrisanthou
says the difference in price from contractor to PatriotBrew depends on the
prices set by individual vendors.
In the case of the
Sacramento V.A., Gilmore's hunch may be correct. He currently charges $1 for an
8 ounce cup of coffee, while Anthony Goolsby, the manager of the Los Angeles
V.A. Medical Center's PatriotBrew, says that the price for a cup of coffee
starts at $2 and goes all the way up to $5 for something more elaborate, like a
latte or a cappuccino.
"I've tried
to keep prices lower for the veterans," says Gilmore. "It's an
opportunity to give back to those who serve the country, and a lot of them are
on fixed incomes and can't afford a lot.
"I see the same people over the years, and I love hearing
their stories."
Michael Lundin
Producer
Fox News Channel
San Francisco, CA
415-951-8550 (office)
415-359-5849 (mobile)
