Sheila Ogle, owner of Matthew’s House in Cary,NC, is the focus of the third installment of Investor Business Daily’s “Small Business and Regulation” series.
New federal regulations have burdened her three small businesses and those of her commercial tenants. Whether withholding small business financing or imposing costly regulatory requirements, government regulations continue to eat up valuable capital – capital that could have otherwise been invested in business growth and job creation. The following is the full article:
Sheila Ogle is somewhat like Jessica Hadler Baines from Tuesday’s small business profile. She too has seen the financing woes that Dodd-Frank has caused for smaller firms.
“One of the tenants in my commercial buildings, she’s a veterinarian,” said Ogle. “She’s been trying for over a year to borrow money to build her own building. She’s been in business three years and showing a profit. She’s been to six banks and overwhelmed with paperwork.”
Ogle’s own struggle with regulations has come via the Environmental Protection Agency. She owns three small businesses in Cary, North Carolina: MRPP, an advertising firm; the Matthew’s House (used for receptions); and the Matthew’s House Catering.
A few years ago, Sheila and her husband expanded the kitchen at Matthew’s House so that it would be a full-service catering kitchen. To do this, they had to expand the retention pond on the land. A retention pond is a basin designed to catch run-off water.
“When you have a commercial building, the EPA can require you to have a retention pond that retains storm water run-off so that impurities don’t get into the city water,” said Ogle.
The pond takes up about a quarter of an acre at Matthew’s House.
“There are lots and lots of guidelines you have to follow (to get the EPA to approve)” she said. “When we expanded Matthew’s House we had to add more depth to the pond, more gravel and more vegetation.”
The cost to do that was about $30,000. That’s $30,000 she was not able to invest in her business.
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