Bob Ehrlich Welcomes President Obama To Maryland

ANNAPOLIS – Bob Ehrlich today issued the following statement welcoming President Barack Obama to Maryland and offering suggestions for small business owners with whom the president and Governor Martin O’Malley could meet to learn about Maryland’s economic hardships.

“I’d like to welcome President Obama to Maryland. It is always productive to have the president hear firsthand how the doubling of our unemployment rate and the closing of 3,000 small businesses last year is impacting Maryland. Having met with more than 100 small business owners in the past two months, these hardships are foremost on my mind.

“I respectfully encourage President Obama and Governor O’Malley to visit a few of the entrepreneurs I have met with to hear firsthand their sobering stories of the obstacles to job creation that currently exist in government. I have included a list of small business owners with whom I believe a conversation would be valuable.”

· Lynn Eash of Columbia-based E & G Classics, whose company has been forced to lay off more than 160 employees since 2006;

· Whitney Whiteman, the owner of ice cream franchises in Baltimore County, whose customers complained about having to pay a 20% sales tax increase beginning in 2007;

· Amy Brown, owner of Blue Heron Bags, who was forced to pay unemployment insurance taxes for a part-time employee on payroll for less than one month;

· Louann Livingood, owner of an embroidery shop in Mount Airy, who dealt with incompetent management of the state’s unemployment insurance program;

· Jeannie Cousineaux-Stone, owner of Stoney’s Seafood Restaurant in Broom’s Island, whose dreams of expanding her business were derailed by the state’s overzealous regulatory environment.