Extent of Employee Benefits of Corporate Tax Reform Not Reported

With well over 400 businesses reporting how their employees, customers, and their communities are being rewarded by their employers, the estimate is that this number represents about 10% of the actual number of companies participating.

Company owners who were contacted cite a number of reasons for not making it known. 

The majority cite a value of just doing what is expected.  John, the owner of a regional chain of landscape nurseries, stated, “I don’t put out news releases about our work with local charities or how we give bonuses to those employee that go above and beyond with their customers.  The help with personal situations like long-term family problems like disease, financial disasters, deaths, and such, to me, is just between me and my employees, and I don’t really want to use that to promote the business.

“You know what we have done for our employees with the tax cut money, to me, is just like paying the bills on time, keeping the grounds clean, taking care of customers, employees, vendors, and such.  It’s part of the job.  Nobody’s business but ours.”

On a darker side of the political climate, we found a group of businesses that were taught a lesson about what they say and do these days.  Some downtowns are getting a new lease on life by converting old storefronts to craft breweries, restaurants, music venues, coffee shops, art galleries, and trendy gift and craft shops that appeal to the 18 to 34 demo.  These people are generally upscale and current with the fashionable values and politics. For the most part, so are the shop owners.

Daniele owns a coffee shop and music stage in a trendy part of town.  She has three full-time employees and four part-timers.  She is used to putting out releases and has an Internet service that blasts them out to local media outlets.  “We have the usual specials and unique drinks from time to time, but I really need to let everybody know who is performing that night,” she explained.  “I prepare releases just about every day.”

So when Daniele forecast the savings she was about to receive from the tax cut she wrote a release about the raises she was giving everybody, the extra paid time off for charity work, and additional help with their health insurance premiums.  When the news hit the usual outlets the next day, everything seemed quite normal and routine.

The next morning, like most other small business owners, Daniele was up hours before opening to do paperwork, clean up a bit, do some maintenance, and set out new displays.  When she arrived at the shop her heart sunk when she saw the destruction.  Broken windows, spray-painted walls inside and out with profanity laden anti-Trump graffiti.  Equipment inside was broken, chairs thrown against the wall, and paint everywhere.

Daniele went outside, sat on the curb and cried as she called the police.

Later that day in interviews with neighboring shops and stores fear was in the air.  Some, not all, had also begun to share their tax relief with employees with bonuses and raises, with customers with price reductions, and the community and downtown area in various ways.  Some never intended to promote their generosity, but the ones that had plans to said, in confidence, that they now planned to be quiet.