Federal Regulations Costly for Small Business Owners

Every day, businesses in America – including sign companies – spend thousands of dollars to comply with mandates from Washington, D.C. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, federal regulations cost the U.S. economy over $1 trillion a year. While we can all agree that a basic regulatory framework is necessary in order to ensure the safety and health of our citizens, these costs indicate that serious regulatory reform is needed.

ISA is working to help clean up the regulatory process and make it easier for sign companies to comply with federal red tape requirements. On December 3rd, staff from several congressional offices and regulatory agencies made predictions about the Obama administration’s plans for 2014 and beyond at a day-long conference hosted by the Regulatory Improvement Council, a trade group representing thousands of manufacturers. At this event, ISA staff moderated a panel discussion among regulatory experts on how trade associations and other groups can help their members navigate through thousands of pages of federal requirements.

In 2013, ISA joined with groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers in urging Congress to enact significant regulatory reform, and ISA staff met personally with many federal officials and their staff to educate them on how various environmental and workplace regulations specifically impact sign companies. These meetings with Members of Congress, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the White House Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) were valuable opportunities for these federal officials to learn about the sign industry and the role that our products play in promoting economic growth.

These are just some of the ways that ISA has been working to represent and defend the sign industry’s interests in our nation’s capital regarding regulatory reform in 2013. If you’d like more information about what ISA is doing to streamline the regulatory process, reduce compliance costs and help your business, please contact ISA’s David Hickey.