My Lunch With The Fed

Joel Libava
Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:10:00 +0000
Franchising

I had lunch with The Fed yesterday. Really. The Federal Reserve. I was even invited.

I happened to be on my computer when an email went out asking COSE members if any of us wanted the opportunity to visit with The Federal Reserve Of Cleveland for a luncheon, and share with them what is really happening in the world of small business, as the economy continues to sputter. Only 25 small business owners made the cut, and a couple of days after the email invitation went out, there was already a waiting list established.

{COSE stands for the Council Of Small Enterprises, a Northeast Ohio member group}

I found out that I was one of the 25 that would be dining with The Fed, in downtown Cleveland.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is no ordinary bank, folks. {Ordinary banks don’t require that certain security checks take place before you enter} This is a highly fortified building, and is even more secure since the 9-11 attacks. Here is an interesting fact; The 100 ton vault door located inside The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, is the largest in the world.

There are actually 12 Federal Reserve Banks throughout the country, and the Cleveland bank is in the 4th district.

From Wikipedia:

“Each Federal Reserve Bank has a board of directors, whose members work closely with their Reserve Bank president to provide grassroots economic information and input on management and monetary policy decisions. These boards are drawn from the general public and the banking community and oversee the activities of the organization. They also appoint the presidents of the Reserve Banks, subject to the approval of the Board of Governors. Reserve Bank boards consist of nine members: six serving as representatives of nonbanking enterprises and the public (nonbankers) and three as representatives of banking. Each Federal Reserve branch office has its own board of directors, composed of three to seven members, that provides vital information concerning the regional economy.”

The Fed in Cleveland wanted to hear how things really were for small business owners, in this difficult economy.

I took it upon myself to represent the franchise industry, and went on to explain to Mark Sniderman, the Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, that not only weren’t people actively searching for opportunities in franchise ownership currently, but that even if there happened to be an abundance of prospective franchise owners out there, they would probably have a tough time finding commercial loans to help them launch their franchises! I also pointed out that even though there was a lot of corporate downsizing, the downsized folks were not reaching out for alternative career options as they had in the past. I told Mark that I was puzzled by this, and asked if he had any answers. {He didn’t, and I don’t either.}

Other small business owners joined the discussion, and most of them were pretty fearful about the current economic climate, short term. Almost everyone was in agreement that in the long term things would work out, and that was great to hear.

There are a lot of really smart, successful small business owners out there. I met several of them at this luncheon, and I left feeling pretty good about our futures, long term. We just have to trudge through this short term ugliness, first…

{Joel Libava IS a small business owner. His business.}