New Hampshire Business Owners Not Sold On Romney

By Janie Amaya

A group of small business owners in New Hampshire attacked GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday for displaying a record of inconsistency over the years, and said that his plan to help them is unclear.

“Politicians often say that small businesses need certainty and consistency to grow and I’m sure Mitt said that when working with Bain Capital. Well, right now it is very clear there is nothing consistent, nor certain about Mitt Romney,” said Mason Donavan, a part owner of the Dagoba Group in Salisbury.

Donavan said that Romney’s opposition to President Obama’s American Jobs Act represents a turn-about for the former Massachusetts Governor, who once supported a $2,000 tax credit for small businesses to hire people who had been unemployed for longer than six months. Obama’s bill would provide $4,000 tax credits to businesses who hire the long-term jobless.

Donavan added that under Romney from 2003-2007, Massachusetts’ economy grew at just one percent, compared to the national level of five percent during that same period.

“We really do need a president that’s out for the small business, that’s there for small businesses and has a record of job growth,” Donavan said.

Small business owner Peter Hoiriis of Manchester said he doubts whether Romney’s 59-point jobs plan can help reduce the nation’s 9.1 percent unemployement rate. Hoiriis also waged a common complaint against Romney; that he’s inconsistent on the issues.

“I’m questioning Romney where he really stands,” Hoiriis said. “I have an old business affiliation with him from twenty years ago, and it just seems that it’s hard to target what he supports or doesn’t.” Hoiriis did say, however, that Romney would be “worthy of listening to.”

Though Romney is ahead of the rest of the GOP field in the Granite State, a new poll released today shows his lead slipping. According to the survey, conducted by Magellan Strategies, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich trails Romney by just two percentage points.

Given the news, Romney will likely need to win over as many small businesses as he can to win the primary, which is less than eight weeks away.