The perspective we heard from Diana Bowen, our neighbor from South China, is one we should all take to heart when it comes to our new federal tax code and the mirror code proposed for our great state (“Tax cuts not helping small businesses,” letter, March 25). She mentioned a poll that showed 69 percent of small business owners don’t expect to be able to hire new employees because of the law, and that she “doesn’t expect to get enough of a tax cut to make a meaningful investment in my business growth.”

This should be of concern to many of us considering the SBA reporting that small businesses employ 57 percent of all Mainers and make up 99 percent of all Maine businesses. Many of these businesses are those right next door that provide jobs and social opportunities for each of us, and that, in most cases, create the atmosphere we have come to know as the way life should be.

So what should the hundreds of thousands of people who work for small businesses expect from our state government? Over the past few weeks I have been watching the Legislature banter around whether to give Bath Iron Works upwards of $60 million to maintain employment levels and upgrade facilities and wonder how this amount of money could aid our small businesses.

I have spoken with my local florist, a small energy firm, and a day care, and each have stated how they could put even a small fraction of that money to work for their businesses to add multiple jobs. In fact, these same businesses could, and would, immediately leverage the money to expand the services they offer which would allow their entrepreneurial spirit, and staffing, to grow.

While BIW deserves support, 100 percent of us would benefit from an investment in the small businesses that make our communities thrive.

Jeremy Pare

Manchester