For Immediate Release: June 26, 2013
What: Small business appreciation media conference
When: Friday, June 28 at 3 p.m.
Where: X-S Alterations (535 Main St., Danville, Va. 24541)
Danville, Va.—Virginia Organizing leaders will gather Friday afternoon to highlight the contributions of small local businesses to Southside Virginia and call on national corporations to support our local communities by paying their fair share in taxes.
Leaders will emphasize the benefits of having locally-owned businesses that hire locally, purchase locally, and pay taxes locally. Small businesses keep more of a community’s money in that community, and the taxes they pay help to improve roads, schools and more.
According to Kristy Lautenbach, a Danville resident who helped organize the action, those contributions stands in stark contrast to the way some big corporations behave. “Bank of America, Apple, Verizon and so many other national corporations spend millions of dollars dodging their tax responsibility,” she said. “It’s not fair that our good local businesses are struggling to stay afloat while multi-billion dollar companies aren’t paying their fair share.”
The media conference will take place at X-S Alterations, a local business that opened in downtown Danville after leaving the Danville Mall in a forced exodus of many local businesses.
Americans for Tax Fairness recently released their 2013 report on corporate tax dodgers that shows the need for meaningful tax reform in Congress. Danville’s small businesses and the community as a whole would benefit from a tax system that ensures everyone is paying their fair share to support the infrastructure, security, and programs that many large corporations benefit from. Virginia Organizing has previously called on U.S. Representative Robert Hurt and others to close tax loopholes, big business giveaways, and tax breaks for sending jobs overseas and the group will continue to send this message to Congress.
After a brief media conference where community members will share stories and voice support for local business, Virginia Organizing leaders will walk through downtown distributing “Thank You” cards and LifeSavers candy to area businesses—because if anyone needs a life saver now, it’s our small businesses!
To interview a spokesperson for the media conference, please contact Amanda Pohl at 804-337-1912 or amanda@virginia-organizing.org.
Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization that brings people together to create a more just Virginia.
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