Presidential hopefuls seek to woo small-business sector

convention with people who potentially would be in the administration when (Clinton) wins,” says Chin, president of Synergy Consulting, a technology advisory business based in Portland, Ore. “I want to be able to contact them and say, ‘Hey, what are your plans for small businesses?’”

The platforms

Trump’s positions on taxes, regulations and energy talk about undoing Obama administration policies. Clinton speaks about making it easier for small businesses to get financing and the need to build on the status quo to help companies grow.

Her statements focus on the need for investment, particularly for businesses owned by minorities and women. She says she plans to help these owners get financing and training, and for incubators to be created in underserved areas. She’s proposing tax credits to bring private investment and jobs to communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment.

Clinton also says she’ll start a nationwide effort to cut regulations at all levels of government and help businesses comply with the rules. She proposes what she calls strategic tax relief for small businesses, not large corporations. She doesn’t provide a target percentage for cutting taxes, but she does say she’d simplifying tax-filing procedures. She supports President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

The proposals on Trump’s website generally don’t mention small business by name, but they do target some owners’ concerns. He supports lowering the tax on business income for all companies to 15 percent. Under current law, depending on the type of business, income can be taxed between 10 percent and nearly 40 percent. Trump supports repealing the health care law and wants trade agreements toughened to give the U.S. more benefits.

He also wants to restart the Keystone XL oil pipeline project that Obama has rejected, which was projected to provide some business for construction firms and other small companies. Trump also says he’d eliminate federal regulations that restrict domestic oil production.

“Any regulation that is outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers or contrary to national interest will be scrapped,” his website promises.

Candidates’ experience

Trump’s business record has been cited by both his backers and his opponents. Supporters applaud his successes and point to his wealth as evidence that he’s a capable manager. Detractors say the fact that some casinos bearing his name have landed in bankruptcy casts doubt on his business ability.

Clinton talks about being the daughter of a smallbusiness owner; her father ran a printing company in Chicago. She says she’ll build on the record of her husband Bill Clinton’s administration in helping small businesses get financing.

Clinton must appeal to small-business owners, even as she is seen as prolabor, says Timothy Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa. Like other Democrats, she’s likely to focus on small-business issues when she’s speaking to groups of owners, and about labor issues and the minimum wage when she’s speaking to union members, he says.

The intangibles

Trump’s in-your-face personality may appeal to some business owners, Hagle says. “One of the reasons why Trump is liked by a lot of people is that willingness to fight,” he says.

But it’s how owners feel about the candidates’ ability to be president in all regards, not just when it comes to small business, that will determine their choices, says Primo, the University of Rochester professor.

“A vast majority of voters trust their gut,” he says.