June 5, 2023 • 26 mins
Alfredo Ortiz is the President/CEO of Job Creators Network. Alfredo joins Tudor to discuss the economy, the ever changing job market, and the importance of minimal regulations and small businesses in America. The Tudor Dixon Podcast is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday. For more information visit TudorDixonPodcast.com
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Tutor Dixon Podcast in the Clay
and Book podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. I'm Tutor Dixon, and
it's great to have you tuning into our podcast today.
As many of you are aware, the ups and downs
of the economy, the impact of COVID and all those
supply chain problems, among other issues, have been hurting small
businesses across our country.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
In Michigan, it's really bad.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We keep losing businesses and with those losses come the
additional sting of population loss. The state of Michigan is
just really struggling. So that's why I wanted to talk
to one of my favorite people when it comes to
talking jobs and how to make new jobs, entrepreneurship, all
of that stuff for small businesses. My guest today is
(00:49):
someone who knows the struggles and works to help those
small businesses succeed. Alfredo Ortiz. He is the president and
CEO of the Job Creators Network and the author of
the latest book, The Real Race Revolutionaries.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Alfredo, Welcome to the podcast, Tudor.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Thank you so much. Always nice to see you.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
It's always great to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I want to talk about something really quick at the beginning,
because as you know, I'm in Michigan. We've talked about
my race here in Michigan and what the future of
Michigan looks like. But we really are struggling when it
comes to businesses. We have the automotive industry. The automotive
industry has actually been able to keep some businesses out
(01:29):
of the state because of the fear of not having
enough workers. So it's kind of now hindering our progress
as opposed to making more progress in the state. We
see other states like Texas, where Dallas, I think in
the last ten years has had two hundred new headquarters
move in Michigan is really we've had headquarters move out.
And the latest from Gretchen Witmer, the governor of Michigan,
(01:51):
she came out and said that she is going to
start a committee that will look at population growth through
twenty fifty. I mean, come on, committee is really just
I don't care, right.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Right, right, absolutely, it seems to be the democrats favorite
new thing, you know, root cause analysis, right, it comes
to everything from the Vice president on down, and so look,
it doesn't take a rocket scientist to actually figure out
what's wrong in your state, really because it's all about
regulations and taxes in your state.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
I mean, it's just out of control.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
And unfortunately, I think as long as she's governor, I
don't think that state's really going to be able to
turn itself around. I mean, you need policies that are
pro growth, pro free enterprise, pro entrepreneurship policies, which really
does mean low regulations, less regulations, and lower taxes, and.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Her new climate plan will be way more regulations. But
I want to ask you something else, because we have
democrat led cities here like Detroit. And when I was
on the campaign trail, I had a guy that was
talking about he was starting a restaurant in the suburbs
of Detroit and won in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And I said, let me ask thank you this.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
If you were a resident of Detroit and you just
wanted to start up a business for the first time,
and you wanted to maybe start your own restaurant, how
difficult would that be? And he said, well, you cann't
afford it, first of all, because you have to hire
so many experts to get through the red tape. And
he said, and then you really, if you don't know
the right people, you'll never be able to start a business.
(03:23):
So how do we take communities that are suffering and
have them rebuild from within if they cannot even figure
out how to own a business or start a business.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
That's a great question too.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
I mean it's you know, I live down here in
Georgia where we're fortunate to have obviously a pro growth
profrey enterprise governor and Governor Kemp. You know, during the
COVID crisis, for example, we're one of the first few
to really open up. In fact, I think we're the
first ones to really open back up our economy. And
so because he actually understood that, he comes from a
(03:55):
small business background, he unerstood what it took to run
a small business, and so you know, he always favored,
you know, the elimination or reduction of red tape to
do that. But you know when you have these blue states,
which you know in blue cities in particular, run by
these blue mayors, is that you know there is a
real problem here because they truly embrace and believe that
(04:17):
more government regulation and more government intervention in some way,
shape or form actually is.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Going to help. And I have not run into one
small business.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Owner yet that raises his or her hand and says, oh,
please please help my business, please raise my taxes, and
please give me more red tape.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
This is just not the way an entrepreneur works.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
And I have to tell you, you know, there are
thirty three million small businesses in this country that employ
about sixty million hard working Americans. So you know, I
always say this small business is too big to fail.
And you're seeing that in Detroit, you're seeing that in Michigan.
It's that, you know, when these small businesses fail, your
communities fail. They are the backbone of our country. They
(04:58):
are the backbone of our communities. When you go to
these little league you know fields and soccer league fields
on weekends, what are the billboards out there?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Say? It's not Coca Cola Michigan.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
You know, Delta Airlines, right, City Bank, Right, That's not
the people who actually sponsor your communities. It's the car
dealer down the street. It's the pizza guy, right, It's
the sub it's the local franchise of a subway.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
To be honest, I mean, that's why we have continued
to supplement the automotive industry in the state of Michigan,
and so many of our tax dollars go into like
we're held hostage by this industry that says you have
to keep paying us to keep us here because so
many of your small businesses are a part of our
industry that if we leave, we will crash the state.
(05:44):
But don't bring any other businesses here because we want
to be the only employer in these towns. So, for example,
Flint is a town in Michigan that is really suffering.
I mean, just a couple of years ago on the news,
a mother was interviewed and she was begging Lee's bring
in jobs because our sons have no place to work.
(06:04):
And she said, that's why we have so much violence
on the streets, because there are no jobs. Well, I
was talking to a community college president just the other
day and he said, you know, it's interesting because because
I was saying, well, in my own town, they were
asking me not to bring business because they don't have
enough workers.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And he said, gosh, I.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Was actually in a meeting with the chamber in Flint
and Stillantis was there. Ur GM I think was there,
and they heard that these other companies were planning to
come there. They went to the government and said, don't
you dare bring them in, and they prevented new business
from coming to the city of Flint, and we're essentially
hostage to this because we believe we have to have them.
(06:44):
How do you get out of that mindset? Because that's
certainly the mindset of Gretchen Wimmer, as you know.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
And again, I certainly hope when her reelection comes up.
I hope to see your name on that ballot, of
course too, because we need people that understand this and
have a completely different mindset. Your current governor just does
not get that. And unfortunately, until you have leadership change
at the top, which then translates all the way down
(07:11):
or starts at least trickling down, you're not going to
get the kind of change that's going to turn around
the state.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
You know. You know, for example, if.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
You look at Virginia, where you had, you know, a
Democrat governor before Governor Young Cain come in. Once Governor
Youngkin has come in, he's really turning that state around
because that leadership is coming from the top, and it's
an understanding of what small business, for example, really does
bring to your your your communities, to your state. You know,
(07:41):
in some states, small businesses represent ninety nine point nine
percent of your total businesses in.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Oh that's Michigan.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I would be surprised. Yeah, it's
probably at least ninety nine percent. And so you know,
when you have unhealthy small businesses, I mean people will
pull out. I mean it's so funny, well not funny,
but you know, the during Small Business Week, the President
was in the Rose Guard and touting how wonderful all
(08:12):
this new new small business growth was happening. And you know,
I dug into the number that he was referring to.
It's really interesting actually the way they play this and
twist around the data, because what they're looking at is
not net new businesses. They were actually looking at gross
new businesses, which basically means they were counting, for example,
(08:33):
a business that was leaving New York and going down
to Florida.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Jeez, that's a new basics we.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Had net zero, right, yeah, that is a new business.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
That's so ridiculous, which is absolutely crazy, right. And so look,
I mean, unfortunately, you're going to sleep start seeing people
who understand this and just say I cannot operate in
the state and more, and they are going to Ly,
They're going to go to Texas, They're going to go
to Georgia. They're going to go, you know, to Floorlorida, Tennessee.
They're going to go to these red states that understand
(09:05):
that low taxes, lower taxes or no taxes in subcases,
and less red tape really is going to make a difference.
I mean out in Arizona, for example, former Governor Doucy
I love the phrase that he had is operating government
at the speed of business. He made a point of
(09:25):
in some cases I think he had made a couple
of examples where permitting processes where you were taking eighteen months,
he was reducing it down to a week. When you're
running a small business and it's you.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
That's so important.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
And that is a number one complaint in Michigan was
every if we wanted to build in Michigan, it would
be what we could do in Tennessee in two to
three months would be nine to twelve months in Michigan minimum.
And think about this, We in Michigan are just giving
money away. I mean, Billy Ford will get I think
(10:01):
two billion dollars from Michigan tax payers this year. Other
automotive companies will get hundreds of thousands. And we are
giving this money away. But our small businesses have time
and time again told me. When we went to the
governor and said we wanted to grow, she said, no,
the money is not there for you. You have to
do that on your own. They have gotten fed up.
(10:22):
They have decided to leave the state. The governor, when
she was asked during the campaign, what is your plan
for population growth and economic growth in the state, was
very seriously looked at the crowd and said, we will
be a place that you can get an abortion, no
matter what. That was her economic growth plan.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Yeah, I mean, that's ridiculous. I mean, Tudor, I'm not
sure if you remember a few years back, but when
the city of Baltimore approved the wage increase, minimum wage increase,
the Democrat mayor of the time actually vetoed that. She
got a lot of crap, quite frankly, thrown at her
because she did that. But the reason she did is
(11:05):
because she said she understood what that would do, the
damage that would do to the small businesses in the state,
excuse me, in the city, and you know, the you know,
kudas to her because she actually, you know, was a
blue mayor that that that basically overrode a blue city council.
But but we do need brave people, hopefully even on
(11:28):
the Democrat side, that do support and stand up for
small businesses. I mean, we know that entrepreneurship is the
number one way to really break that racial and economic divide.
You mentioned the book which I'll put it right here,
The Real Race Revolutionaries. That's exactly what I talk about
in the book, is that the only way that we
(11:49):
can really have true change in terms of racial and
economic divide and how to bridge that gap is through entrepreneurship,
you know, and and without that, as especially amongst minorities,
you're not going to have really this issue addressed from
the country. And it's not more government that's needed. It
(12:10):
really is an ability to help it help help help
these small businesses succeed by bringing down their taxes and
bringing down the red tape.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon podcast. Now, you and I have talked
about how do you get the people to really understand this,
how do you get people on the ground, because it
during our race. So my background is manufacturing. As many
people know, I come from the steel industry. We had
(12:39):
a steel foundry, and so I understand what it is
to go up against the government when it comes to
environmental and all of this, all of these outrageous regulations
that they throw on you. But in some cases, I
would say Republicans and the United States have the cleanest
manufacturing in the world because we are held to such
a high standard. But there are some standards that are
(13:01):
keeping businesses from actually expanding. In Michigan, we have an
interesting situation where these companies have been allowed to sign
non disclosure agreements. So I was asked during the campaign,
having come from the manufacturing industry, sat with the Michigan
Manufacturers Association and they were talking to both of us
for endorsements, and Stilantis asked, will you continue to give
(13:24):
us this money? And I said, I would love to
comment on it, but I don't know why you received
that money because you have a non disclosure agreement. And
the woman looked at me and she said, are you
indicating that we should have our agreements be public? Yeah,
I mean I think if you are taking taxpayer dollars,
there are things that we can keep private if you
have proprietary information, but we should know why you're getting that.
(13:47):
And that was really Afterward they came out and they said, Well,
the story is you didn't get the endorsement because the
power of the automotive industry who believes that you may
cut back the incentives that they're is handed year after
year and never held to what they say, never held
to the agreement. Well, we'll bring in maybe two thousand
jobs and then jobs leave. So how do you get
(14:10):
the people to truly understand what's happening behind the scenes.
I know you've talked about doing ads, talking about real leadership,
showing people in blue states or purple states what red
states are really doing.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Yeah, so that's another great question, Tooter. We actually started
a project last year called the Great Opportunity Project GOP
for short, my humble and our humble attempt to try
to actually redefine what the GEOPE stands for, from Grand
Old Party to really what is what we should be
the Great Opportunity Project. And we have shown time and
(14:45):
time again that through an understanding of entrepreneurship and embracing
of entrepreneurship that you can truly succeed and break out
of that. I mean, you and I have talked a
little bit about my background, but I come from a
poor background. I was I grew up in Suliviskal, California.
My mom was a housekeeper. My dad was a tailor.
I used to go on trash day with my mom,
(15:05):
collecting lumen cans and newspapers, you know, to make to
make ends meet and you know, to buy our groceries
for the week. And so you know, fast forward, you
know she she also, by the way, was the first
entrepreneur probably I ever met, because she she was able
to do the best garage sales, craft sales and bake
sales you could ever imagine.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
But but fast forward to you know where I am today. Yes,
I worked in corporate America and fortunately five hundreds and
I got a great uh a great education out uh
you know, with my undergrad I went to Michigan by
the way, University of Michigan, got my MBA, paid my
own loans, by the way, paid those up by myself
and not with anybody else's help. But it was really
(15:47):
my two small businesses I established here in Georgia that
really kind of was my breakthrough moment because it really established,
you know, my own opportunity to be able to make
something of myself and to have something that I owned,
and that really Frankly, when I sold the two businesses,
put me on a great path to where I am today.
(16:07):
And so you know, the more we embraced that, the
better off we're going to be. But again, you need
to have that leadership come from the top and make
those bold moves, very similar to what we're seeing with
Governor Younkin. And so the Great Opportunity Project really highlighted
some of the great work of some of these fantastic governors,
for example, Governor Reynolds, who you and I love.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And I've talked to.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Extensively in Iowa, Governor Doucy, Governor Younkin Kemp here in Georgia.
It really kind of highlighted, especially during the COVID period,
what they actually did for their small businesses and how
they really help small businesses thrive during and after pretty
much the pandemic. And so the more we highlight these situations,
(16:56):
and frankly, I wanted to play and we did run
some of those ads in blue states because I want
people to see, Hey, wait a minute, I like what
happened there, What does it take and what will it
take for us to see that? And what it's going
to take is change in leadership. Very much like what
we saw in Virginia. And so this is we highlight
(17:17):
that the better off we're going to be.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
These are business deals.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
And that's why I think you see so many successful
governors that came from the business world, and like Governor
Youngkin and you have some governors out west they've come
in from the business world and Governor Doocy and they've
been able to make these connections bring businesses in. I
think that's something that people don't understand. It's not you
(17:41):
don't just wait for the businesses to come to you.
I mean last week when we were sitting with a
bunch of the governors, I was listening to some of
them talk and one of them said, I went to California.
I went to sit down with the businesses. I recruited
them and said, what do you need. I will bring
you here, and I'll tell you. One of the most
(18:01):
successful states for taking business. And I always give Governor
Lee a little grief about this for taking business from
Michigan is Tennessee and Governor ly has been incredibly successful
at bringing businesses there. And I will say that I
think you can correct me if I'm wrong, But if
you have a governor who is able to successfully bring
(18:22):
some of these larger corporations into your state. That grows
entrepreneurship because you have businesses that pop up around those
big businesses. You've got to have hotels, you have to
have restaurants, you have to have widget shops and what
not to produce products for these bigger companies. And if
you're losing out on all the big companies, if you
(18:43):
have all your eggs in one basket and industry, then
you're really in a danger zone. And I think that
Michigan is the perfect example of that happening. And I
think that that's what people need to understand. You have
to be looking at bringing business to a state from
all different and that can lift up those entrepreneurs and
that can lift up these minority communities that are struggling
(19:05):
so that they can build up their own community.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
And you know, probably the three worst words for unions
to hear a right to work, right. I mean, but
if you look at the right to work states, and
especially in the automotive industry, I mean, there's a reason
why unions keep getting rejected from these companies in those states, right, And.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
That was just a policy in Michigan that over after
I think it was twelve years, was overturned as soon
as the Democrats took control a couple months ago. They
removed right to work in the state of Michigan.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
And no state has done that.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
Yeah, no, And I have to tell you it's probably
the worst thing. I mean, look, I don't want to
be called a union buster, but unions had their time.
I think they were useful at a point, but there's
a reason why membership and unions keeps going.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Down and down.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
And I have to tell you, Tutor, now, with this
EV push, it'll be really interesting to see what the
UAW in particular thinks about some of these plans, because
as you know, for example, production of an EV vehicle
takes about one half the labor force of an electronic
vehicle as it is a combustion engine, right, And so
(20:17):
in terms of employment, that's really going to be interesting.
So they're going to be pushing for more and more benefits,
which means it's operating that state is going to be
more and more costly. But look, in the end, we
have to make sure that in particular our small business environment,
our total business environment, our small business environment is one
(20:39):
that's really conducive and friendly to small businesses because they
are the heartbeat of our communities. And so I haven't
seen one single state where you know, we're an unfriendly
business environment. Small business leads to a great, thriving state economy.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, it just seems like in some of these states
there's no focus put on it. They just don't seem
to care about it, and people are really at a
loss as to what to do, which is why I
think it is so important that we do find that
method to communicate. I love what you're doing with the ads.
I know you say you're doing your small part. That's
a big part to me. That's something that we desperately
(21:17):
needed groups to come in and do during the campaign,
and I think it's so valuable. So folks that are
listening out there, I mean, this is an organization that
you should look at, Job Creators Network, talk to them,
find out what you can do to help. Because I
will say again that I've said this several times on
the Republican side, we do not have organizations that get
(21:38):
enough funding to go out and do the work on
the ground, whereas the Democrats have all different organizations that
are doing this.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
They are pushing through the voters.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
They are getting to them, they're getting the message to them,
They're making sure that they're totally informed because most of
our voters are not watching the news, they're not engaged
in Twitter, they don't want to hear it. So we
need folks like you that can go out and get
the message directly to them so they understand the ramifications
of voting for a Democrat who's going to drive business
(22:08):
out of their state.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Well, thank you, and absolutely Look when our founding fathers
had a vision for this country and they really wrote
in some beautiful words like of buying for the people
in that constitution, there is a reason why they did that,
because that is where the power should be.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
The power should be within the states.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
And unfortunately, I think with governors like your current governor,
even though she should be for by the people, she's
not right, I mean, And unfortunately that is the most
successful states are when they are reminded and when they
actually truly act like this state is for a form
by the people, right, and that they need to do
(22:45):
whatever they can to actually do what's best for the people,
and that's what's not what is best for the government
within that state. Or on a federal basis, and so
I think, again, there's so much work on these blue
states versus red states that's out there. I mean, the
data is so apparent. We just need to as I'll
call it as a party, as conservatives or as a
(23:06):
Republican party, to really be able to communicate the message better. Right,
It's all about how we tell the story. The left
is really great tutor. If I have to give them
kudos for one thing, it's their storytelling abilities.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Yes, I mean from the White House all the way down.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
I mean, shoot, the White House right now should be given,
you know, fiction awards for their fiction stories that they
came up with. But they are really good at this.
We're really bad at telling our stories and helping people
understand why our way of governing is really the best way,
because that produces the most freedom and the most quite frankly,
(23:47):
the most opportunity for people to succeed.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
And I think that's why you see some of our
most successful states are run by people who are former
businessmen and women. And then that's a great training ground
to go on to the presidency because when you are
talking about being in that position, there's a lot of
foreign policy that you have to do that mimics what
you would do in business, that mimics how you would
(24:11):
handle those big deals and those partnerships. I think that's
something that as we look at this presidential election, it's
just going to be interesting to see how people interact,
how they've been able to work on the economy in
their states, and that's something that we really have to
keep in mind. But for the I think it'll be
(24:31):
twenty six when we'll have several governor's races all again.
In twenty three and twenty four we just have a few,
but twenty six that's a time for us to really
talk about what that leadership means at the top of
the state.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
But I love what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Tell our listeners where to get the book again when
it comes out.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Yeah, it's actually available at Amazon, of course, like everything
else is. But The Real Race Revolutionaries. It's great as
a quick read, ninety nine pages. I promise you'll probably
get through it in three.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Hours or less.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
But it's got some great data, some great information that
really debunks a lot of this stuff that you hear,
you know, coming from the left, And quite frankly, personally,
I am so offended and insulted from some of the
stuff that's coming from the left that basically says I'm
too dumb, you know, to be able to do this
on my own, and that I just need the government
(25:28):
to save me. Yeah, I mean, I just need the
government to get out of the way. I need to
get you know, lower my taxes, lower my red tape,
and you know, let me go at it. I mean,
I'm willing to take the risk. Let me then be
able to benefit from the full reward, right.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
And I think that people need to understand if you
get this book, this allows you to really talk intelligently,
and not to say that you're not speaking intelligently now,
but have those facts that you can talk to your friends,
not offend them, talk to them with just facts and
say this is why these things matter, and this is
why it's so important. And I thank you for writing it.
(26:03):
Alfredo Ortiz. It's always a pleasure talking to you. He
is the CEO, president and CEO of Job Creators Network.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Check it out.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
They do great work and I just appreciate having you
on today.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Thanks Tudor, always a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
And thank you all for joining me as usual on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast for this episode and others. Go
to tutordisonpodcast dot com. You can subscribe right there, or
go to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
get your podcasts. Make sure you join us next time
on the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Have a great week.
You're listening to the Tutor Dixon Podcast in the Clay
and Book podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. I'm Tutor Dixon, and
it's great to have you tuning into our podcast today.
As many of you are aware, the ups and downs
of the economy, the impact of COVID and all those
supply chain problems, among other issues, have been hurting small
businesses across our country.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
In Michigan, it's really bad.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We keep losing businesses and with those losses come the
additional sting of population loss. The state of Michigan is
just really struggling. So that's why I wanted to talk
to one of my favorite people when it comes to
talking jobs and how to make new jobs, entrepreneurship, all
of that stuff for small businesses. My guest today is
(00:49):
someone who knows the struggles and works to help those
small businesses succeed. Alfredo Ortiz. He is the president and
CEO of the Job Creators Network and the author of
the latest book, The Real Race Revolutionaries.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Alfredo, Welcome to the podcast, Tudor.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Thank you so much. Always nice to see you.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
It's always great to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I want to talk about something really quick at the beginning,
because as you know, I'm in Michigan. We've talked about
my race here in Michigan and what the future of
Michigan looks like. But we really are struggling when it
comes to businesses. We have the automotive industry. The automotive
industry has actually been able to keep some businesses out
(01:29):
of the state because of the fear of not having
enough workers. So it's kind of now hindering our progress
as opposed to making more progress in the state. We
see other states like Texas, where Dallas, I think in
the last ten years has had two hundred new headquarters
move in Michigan is really we've had headquarters move out.
And the latest from Gretchen Witmer, the governor of Michigan,
(01:51):
she came out and said that she is going to
start a committee that will look at population growth through
twenty fifty. I mean, come on, committee is really just
I don't care, right.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Right, right, absolutely, it seems to be the democrats favorite
new thing, you know, root cause analysis, right, it comes
to everything from the Vice president on down, and so look,
it doesn't take a rocket scientist to actually figure out
what's wrong in your state, really because it's all about
regulations and taxes in your state.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
I mean, it's just out of control.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
And unfortunately, I think as long as she's governor, I
don't think that state's really going to be able to
turn itself around. I mean, you need policies that are
pro growth, pro free enterprise, pro entrepreneurship policies, which really
does mean low regulations, less regulations, and lower taxes, and.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Her new climate plan will be way more regulations. But
I want to ask you something else, because we have
democrat led cities here like Detroit. And when I was
on the campaign trail, I had a guy that was
talking about he was starting a restaurant in the suburbs
of Detroit and won in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And I said, let me ask thank you this.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
If you were a resident of Detroit and you just
wanted to start up a business for the first time,
and you wanted to maybe start your own restaurant, how
difficult would that be? And he said, well, you cann't
afford it, first of all, because you have to hire
so many experts to get through the red tape. And
he said, and then you really, if you don't know
the right people, you'll never be able to start a business.
(03:23):
So how do we take communities that are suffering and
have them rebuild from within if they cannot even figure
out how to own a business or start a business.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
That's a great question too.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
I mean it's you know, I live down here in
Georgia where we're fortunate to have obviously a pro growth
profrey enterprise governor and Governor Kemp. You know, during the
COVID crisis, for example, we're one of the first few
to really open up. In fact, I think we're the
first ones to really open back up our economy. And
so because he actually understood that, he comes from a
(03:55):
small business background, he unerstood what it took to run
a small business, and so you know, he always favored,
you know, the elimination or reduction of red tape to
do that. But you know when you have these blue states,
which you know in blue cities in particular, run by
these blue mayors, is that you know there is a
real problem here because they truly embrace and believe that
(04:17):
more government regulation and more government intervention in some way,
shape or form actually is.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Going to help. And I have not run into one
small business.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Owner yet that raises his or her hand and says, oh,
please please help my business, please raise my taxes, and
please give me more red tape.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
This is just not the way an entrepreneur works.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
And I have to tell you, you know, there are
thirty three million small businesses in this country that employ
about sixty million hard working Americans. So you know, I
always say this small business is too big to fail.
And you're seeing that in Detroit, you're seeing that in Michigan.
It's that, you know, when these small businesses fail, your
communities fail. They are the backbone of our country. They
(04:58):
are the backbone of our communities. When you go to
these little league you know fields and soccer league fields
on weekends, what are the billboards out there?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Say? It's not Coca Cola Michigan.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
You know, Delta Airlines, right, City Bank, Right, That's not
the people who actually sponsor your communities. It's the car
dealer down the street. It's the pizza guy, right, It's
the sub it's the local franchise of a subway.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
To be honest, I mean, that's why we have continued
to supplement the automotive industry in the state of Michigan,
and so many of our tax dollars go into like
we're held hostage by this industry that says you have
to keep paying us to keep us here because so
many of your small businesses are a part of our
industry that if we leave, we will crash the state.
(05:44):
But don't bring any other businesses here because we want
to be the only employer in these towns. So, for example,
Flint is a town in Michigan that is really suffering.
I mean, just a couple of years ago on the news,
a mother was interviewed and she was begging Lee's bring
in jobs because our sons have no place to work.
(06:04):
And she said, that's why we have so much violence
on the streets, because there are no jobs. Well, I
was talking to a community college president just the other
day and he said, you know, it's interesting because because
I was saying, well, in my own town, they were
asking me not to bring business because they don't have
enough workers.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And he said, gosh, I.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Was actually in a meeting with the chamber in Flint
and Stillantis was there. Ur GM I think was there,
and they heard that these other companies were planning to
come there. They went to the government and said, don't
you dare bring them in, and they prevented new business
from coming to the city of Flint, and we're essentially
hostage to this because we believe we have to have them.
(06:44):
How do you get out of that mindset? Because that's
certainly the mindset of Gretchen Wimmer, as you know.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
And again, I certainly hope when her reelection comes up.
I hope to see your name on that ballot, of
course too, because we need people that understand this and
have a completely different mindset. Your current governor just does
not get that. And unfortunately, until you have leadership change
at the top, which then translates all the way down
(07:11):
or starts at least trickling down, you're not going to
get the kind of change that's going to turn around
the state.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
You know. You know, for example, if.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
You look at Virginia, where you had, you know, a
Democrat governor before Governor Young Cain come in. Once Governor
Youngkin has come in, he's really turning that state around
because that leadership is coming from the top, and it's
an understanding of what small business, for example, really does
bring to your your your communities, to your state. You know,
(07:41):
in some states, small businesses represent ninety nine point nine
percent of your total businesses in.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Oh that's Michigan.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I would be surprised. Yeah, it's
probably at least ninety nine percent. And so you know,
when you have unhealthy small businesses, I mean people will
pull out. I mean it's so funny, well not funny,
but you know, the during Small Business Week, the President
was in the Rose Guard and touting how wonderful all
(08:12):
this new new small business growth was happening. And you know,
I dug into the number that he was referring to.
It's really interesting actually the way they play this and
twist around the data, because what they're looking at is
not net new businesses. They were actually looking at gross
new businesses, which basically means they were counting, for example,
(08:33):
a business that was leaving New York and going down
to Florida.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Jeez, that's a new basics we.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Had net zero, right, yeah, that is a new business.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
That's so ridiculous, which is absolutely crazy, right. And so look,
I mean, unfortunately, you're going to sleep start seeing people
who understand this and just say I cannot operate in
the state and more, and they are going to Ly,
They're going to go to Texas, They're going to go
to Georgia. They're going to go, you know, to Floorlorida, Tennessee.
They're going to go to these red states that understand
(09:05):
that low taxes, lower taxes or no taxes in subcases,
and less red tape really is going to make a difference.
I mean out in Arizona, for example, former Governor Doucy
I love the phrase that he had is operating government
at the speed of business. He made a point of
(09:25):
in some cases I think he had made a couple
of examples where permitting processes where you were taking eighteen months,
he was reducing it down to a week. When you're
running a small business and it's you.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
That's so important.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
And that is a number one complaint in Michigan was
every if we wanted to build in Michigan, it would
be what we could do in Tennessee in two to
three months would be nine to twelve months in Michigan minimum.
And think about this, We in Michigan are just giving
money away. I mean, Billy Ford will get I think
(10:01):
two billion dollars from Michigan tax payers this year. Other
automotive companies will get hundreds of thousands. And we are
giving this money away. But our small businesses have time
and time again told me. When we went to the
governor and said we wanted to grow, she said, no,
the money is not there for you. You have to
do that on your own. They have gotten fed up.
(10:22):
They have decided to leave the state. The governor, when
she was asked during the campaign, what is your plan
for population growth and economic growth in the state, was
very seriously looked at the crowd and said, we will
be a place that you can get an abortion, no
matter what. That was her economic growth plan.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Yeah, I mean, that's ridiculous. I mean, Tudor, I'm not
sure if you remember a few years back, but when
the city of Baltimore approved the wage increase, minimum wage increase,
the Democrat mayor of the time actually vetoed that. She
got a lot of crap, quite frankly, thrown at her
because she did that. But the reason she did is
(11:05):
because she said she understood what that would do, the
damage that would do to the small businesses in the state,
excuse me, in the city, and you know, the you know,
kudas to her because she actually, you know, was a
blue mayor that that that basically overrode a blue city council.
But but we do need brave people, hopefully even on
(11:28):
the Democrat side, that do support and stand up for
small businesses. I mean, we know that entrepreneurship is the
number one way to really break that racial and economic divide.
You mentioned the book which I'll put it right here,
The Real Race Revolutionaries. That's exactly what I talk about
in the book, is that the only way that we
(11:49):
can really have true change in terms of racial and
economic divide and how to bridge that gap is through entrepreneurship,
you know, and and without that, as especially amongst minorities,
you're not going to have really this issue addressed from
the country. And it's not more government that's needed. It
(12:10):
really is an ability to help it help help help
these small businesses succeed by bringing down their taxes and
bringing down the red tape.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon podcast. Now, you and I have talked
about how do you get the people to really understand this,
how do you get people on the ground, because it
during our race. So my background is manufacturing. As many
people know, I come from the steel industry. We had
(12:39):
a steel foundry, and so I understand what it is
to go up against the government when it comes to
environmental and all of this, all of these outrageous regulations
that they throw on you. But in some cases, I
would say Republicans and the United States have the cleanest
manufacturing in the world because we are held to such
a high standard. But there are some standards that are
(13:01):
keeping businesses from actually expanding. In Michigan, we have an
interesting situation where these companies have been allowed to sign
non disclosure agreements. So I was asked during the campaign,
having come from the manufacturing industry, sat with the Michigan
Manufacturers Association and they were talking to both of us
for endorsements, and Stilantis asked, will you continue to give
(13:24):
us this money? And I said, I would love to
comment on it, but I don't know why you received
that money because you have a non disclosure agreement. And
the woman looked at me and she said, are you
indicating that we should have our agreements be public? Yeah,
I mean I think if you are taking taxpayer dollars,
there are things that we can keep private if you
have proprietary information, but we should know why you're getting that.
(13:47):
And that was really Afterward they came out and they said, Well,
the story is you didn't get the endorsement because the
power of the automotive industry who believes that you may
cut back the incentives that they're is handed year after
year and never held to what they say, never held
to the agreement. Well, we'll bring in maybe two thousand
jobs and then jobs leave. So how do you get
(14:10):
the people to truly understand what's happening behind the scenes.
I know you've talked about doing ads, talking about real leadership,
showing people in blue states or purple states what red
states are really doing.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Yeah, so that's another great question, Tooter. We actually started
a project last year called the Great Opportunity Project GOP
for short, my humble and our humble attempt to try
to actually redefine what the GEOPE stands for, from Grand
Old Party to really what is what we should be
the Great Opportunity Project. And we have shown time and
(14:45):
time again that through an understanding of entrepreneurship and embracing
of entrepreneurship that you can truly succeed and break out
of that. I mean, you and I have talked a
little bit about my background, but I come from a
poor background. I was I grew up in Suliviskal, California.
My mom was a housekeeper. My dad was a tailor.
I used to go on trash day with my mom,
(15:05):
collecting lumen cans and newspapers, you know, to make to
make ends meet and you know, to buy our groceries
for the week. And so you know, fast forward, you
know she she also, by the way, was the first
entrepreneur probably I ever met, because she she was able
to do the best garage sales, craft sales and bake
sales you could ever imagine.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
But but fast forward to you know where I am today. Yes,
I worked in corporate America and fortunately five hundreds and
I got a great uh a great education out uh
you know, with my undergrad I went to Michigan by
the way, University of Michigan, got my MBA, paid my
own loans, by the way, paid those up by myself
and not with anybody else's help. But it was really
(15:47):
my two small businesses I established here in Georgia that
really kind of was my breakthrough moment because it really established,
you know, my own opportunity to be able to make
something of myself and to have something that I owned,
and that really Frankly, when I sold the two businesses,
put me on a great path to where I am today.
(16:07):
And so you know, the more we embraced that, the
better off we're going to be. But again, you need
to have that leadership come from the top and make
those bold moves, very similar to what we're seeing with
Governor Younkin. And so the Great Opportunity Project really highlighted
some of the great work of some of these fantastic governors,
for example, Governor Reynolds, who you and I love.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And I've talked to.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Extensively in Iowa, Governor Doucy, Governor Younkin Kemp here in Georgia.
It really kind of highlighted, especially during the COVID period,
what they actually did for their small businesses and how
they really help small businesses thrive during and after pretty
much the pandemic. And so the more we highlight these situations,
(16:56):
and frankly, I wanted to play and we did run
some of those ads in blue states because I want
people to see, Hey, wait a minute, I like what
happened there, What does it take and what will it
take for us to see that? And what it's going
to take is change in leadership. Very much like what
we saw in Virginia. And so this is we highlight
(17:17):
that the better off we're going to be.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
These are business deals.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
And that's why I think you see so many successful
governors that came from the business world, and like Governor
Youngkin and you have some governors out west they've come
in from the business world and Governor Doocy and they've
been able to make these connections bring businesses in. I
think that's something that people don't understand. It's not you
(17:41):
don't just wait for the businesses to come to you.
I mean last week when we were sitting with a
bunch of the governors, I was listening to some of
them talk and one of them said, I went to California.
I went to sit down with the businesses. I recruited
them and said, what do you need. I will bring
you here, and I'll tell you. One of the most
(18:01):
successful states for taking business. And I always give Governor
Lee a little grief about this for taking business from
Michigan is Tennessee and Governor ly has been incredibly successful
at bringing businesses there. And I will say that I
think you can correct me if I'm wrong, But if
you have a governor who is able to successfully bring
(18:22):
some of these larger corporations into your state. That grows
entrepreneurship because you have businesses that pop up around those
big businesses. You've got to have hotels, you have to
have restaurants, you have to have widget shops and what
not to produce products for these bigger companies. And if
you're losing out on all the big companies, if you
(18:43):
have all your eggs in one basket and industry, then
you're really in a danger zone. And I think that
Michigan is the perfect example of that happening. And I
think that that's what people need to understand. You have
to be looking at bringing business to a state from
all different and that can lift up those entrepreneurs and
that can lift up these minority communities that are struggling
(19:05):
so that they can build up their own community.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
And you know, probably the three worst words for unions
to hear a right to work, right. I mean, but
if you look at the right to work states, and
especially in the automotive industry, I mean, there's a reason
why unions keep getting rejected from these companies in those states, right, And.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
That was just a policy in Michigan that over after
I think it was twelve years, was overturned as soon
as the Democrats took control a couple months ago. They
removed right to work in the state of Michigan.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
And no state has done that.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
Yeah, no, And I have to tell you it's probably
the worst thing. I mean, look, I don't want to
be called a union buster, but unions had their time.
I think they were useful at a point, but there's
a reason why membership and unions keeps going.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Down and down.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
And I have to tell you, Tutor, now, with this
EV push, it'll be really interesting to see what the
UAW in particular thinks about some of these plans, because
as you know, for example, production of an EV vehicle
takes about one half the labor force of an electronic
vehicle as it is a combustion engine, right, And so
(20:17):
in terms of employment, that's really going to be interesting.
So they're going to be pushing for more and more benefits,
which means it's operating that state is going to be
more and more costly. But look, in the end, we
have to make sure that in particular our small business environment,
our total business environment, our small business environment is one
(20:39):
that's really conducive and friendly to small businesses because they
are the heartbeat of our communities. And so I haven't
seen one single state where you know, we're an unfriendly
business environment. Small business leads to a great, thriving state economy.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, it just seems like in some of these states
there's no focus put on it. They just don't seem
to care about it, and people are really at a
loss as to what to do, which is why I
think it is so important that we do find that
method to communicate. I love what you're doing with the ads.
I know you say you're doing your small part. That's
a big part to me. That's something that we desperately
(21:17):
needed groups to come in and do during the campaign,
and I think it's so valuable. So folks that are
listening out there, I mean, this is an organization that
you should look at, Job Creators Network, talk to them,
find out what you can do to help. Because I
will say again that I've said this several times on
the Republican side, we do not have organizations that get
(21:38):
enough funding to go out and do the work on
the ground, whereas the Democrats have all different organizations that
are doing this.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
They are pushing through the voters.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
They are getting to them, they're getting the message to them,
They're making sure that they're totally informed because most of
our voters are not watching the news, they're not engaged
in Twitter, they don't want to hear it. So we
need folks like you that can go out and get
the message directly to them so they understand the ramifications
of voting for a Democrat who's going to drive business
(22:08):
out of their state.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Well, thank you, and absolutely Look when our founding fathers
had a vision for this country and they really wrote
in some beautiful words like of buying for the people
in that constitution, there is a reason why they did that,
because that is where the power should be.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
The power should be within the states.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
And unfortunately, I think with governors like your current governor,
even though she should be for by the people, she's
not right, I mean, And unfortunately that is the most
successful states are when they are reminded and when they
actually truly act like this state is for a form
by the people, right, and that they need to do
(22:45):
whatever they can to actually do what's best for the people,
and that's what's not what is best for the government
within that state. Or on a federal basis, and so
I think, again, there's so much work on these blue
states versus red states that's out there. I mean, the
data is so apparent. We just need to as I'll
call it as a party, as conservatives or as a
(23:06):
Republican party, to really be able to communicate the message better. Right,
It's all about how we tell the story. The left
is really great tutor. If I have to give them
kudos for one thing, it's their storytelling abilities.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Yes, I mean from the White House all the way down.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
I mean, shoot, the White House right now should be given,
you know, fiction awards for their fiction stories that they
came up with. But they are really good at this.
We're really bad at telling our stories and helping people
understand why our way of governing is really the best way,
because that produces the most freedom and the most quite frankly,
(23:47):
the most opportunity for people to succeed.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
And I think that's why you see some of our
most successful states are run by people who are former
businessmen and women. And then that's a great training ground
to go on to the presidency because when you are
talking about being in that position, there's a lot of
foreign policy that you have to do that mimics what
you would do in business, that mimics how you would
(24:11):
handle those big deals and those partnerships. I think that's
something that as we look at this presidential election, it's
just going to be interesting to see how people interact,
how they've been able to work on the economy in
their states, and that's something that we really have to
keep in mind. But for the I think it'll be
(24:31):
twenty six when we'll have several governor's races all again.
In twenty three and twenty four we just have a few,
but twenty six that's a time for us to really
talk about what that leadership means at the top of
the state.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
But I love what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Tell our listeners where to get the book again when
it comes out.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Yeah, it's actually available at Amazon, of course, like everything
else is. But The Real Race Revolutionaries. It's great as
a quick read, ninety nine pages. I promise you'll probably
get through it in three.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Hours or less.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
But it's got some great data, some great information that
really debunks a lot of this stuff that you hear,
you know, coming from the left, And quite frankly, personally,
I am so offended and insulted from some of the
stuff that's coming from the left that basically says I'm
too dumb, you know, to be able to do this
on my own, and that I just need the government
(25:28):
to save me. Yeah, I mean, I just need the
government to get out of the way. I need to
get you know, lower my taxes, lower my red tape,
and you know, let me go at it. I mean,
I'm willing to take the risk. Let me then be
able to benefit from the full reward, right.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
And I think that people need to understand if you
get this book, this allows you to really talk intelligently,
and not to say that you're not speaking intelligently now,
but have those facts that you can talk to your friends,
not offend them, talk to them with just facts and
say this is why these things matter, and this is
why it's so important. And I thank you for writing it.
(26:03):
Alfredo Ortiz. It's always a pleasure talking to you. He
is the CEO, president and CEO of Job Creators Network.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Check it out.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
They do great work and I just appreciate having you
on today.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Thanks Tudor, always a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
And thank you all for joining me as usual on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast for this episode and others. Go
to tutordisonpodcast dot com. You can subscribe right there, or
go to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
get your podcasts. Make sure you join us next time
on the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Have a great week.
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