Dire Straits

No not the band. Life here in Port Angeles is getting hard. Here are a list of businesses off the top of my head that are closed or are closing.

1. K ply mill
2. zen zizi clothing store
3. round the clock
4. Ma Ma's grill
5. Landing grill
6. Camera Corner

Empty storefronts, lots of empty commercial space, and no construction.

I think it's happening, the state and county governments have finally squeezed enough to make people give up. For the longest time running a business here felt like walking on a razor blade, always tipping, never feeling balance, never having time to breath. Keeping employees, and customers happy, taxes, regulations. The mantra has been said before, but the stark reality of the consequences are in empty buildings all over town. People have lost hope.

I have had lots of ideas for businesses that would do well in downtown Port Angeles.

1. Scooter rentals: summer only, but it would be a fun business to run, an especially fun enterprise to train FBLA teens.

2. Communications store: AKA cell phone outlet, there are lots of tourists moving through town in the summer, keep them talking.

3. Bakery, we have a doughnut store, this town has no bakery, no good bread.

4. Large open market, copy the market on Granville island in Vancouver.

5. Light manufacturer I really miss ThomBin, I loved their products when there were here in Port Angeles, it gave PA an identity. I was proud to buy and give his stuff away it always made me feel good. Port Angeles needs to make something, anything.

Where are all the business people? why not teens? why not college students? I know the answer.

Fear.

Why would anyone expose themselves to the risks of running a business, and the risks of prosecution in the form of taxes and regulation from the state. It's almost stupid to start a business today, the economy has crushed your profit margin, congratulations we still need our B & O tax on your GROSS! now your in the red again, why not declare bankruptcy. Gone are the employees, gone are the hopes of more tax revenue, with no renters commercial real estate will be owned by the banks, and it will sit stagnant until the gates are opened up.

Why not experiment with Port Angeles and see what happens? make downtown a regulation free zone, no minimum wages, no labor laws, no employment security tax, B & O tax, real estate tax, sales tax, no unions, no signage regulations, minimal building codes, and make business owners free from liability. Ok, no brothels (not that Port Angeles hasn't seen its share)
but after that I wonder what would happen? Why not just one sheet of paper to start a business, better yet one form on a web site, why isn't it that simple?
I would seriously consider moving to a place that was exempt from B & O tax. Businesses can't breath anymore, we're suffocating, and the worst part is the state thinks it can save us by choking harder.

Help, drowning here, stop pushing, stop choking, just stop.