National Federation of Independent Business
Encyclopedia
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is a lobbying organization with its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee
and offices in Washington, D.C.
USA, and in all 50 state
capitals. NFIB's lobbying efforts are focused on the impact of current and proposed legislation on businesses (primarily small business
es) and professional practices at all levels of government, but primarily at the federal and state levels. NFIB claims a membership base of about 350,000.
until 1992 when it was re-located to Nashville.
Beginning in its earliest history, NFIB's positions were determined by a polling of its membership. Periodic ballots (referred to as Mandates) were mailed to its members who then had an opportunity to vote their opinions on the questions presented. Once the votes were tallied, the majority position became NFIB's position.
In recent years NFIB has supported such items as tort reform
, repeal of the estate tax, reduction of governmental paperwork, and creation of affordable health insurance plans – by allowing small business to pool resources.
NFIB has grown from an entrepreneur
ial vision in 1943 to a national organization. Fortune
Magazine ranks NFIB as the number one business lobby (third overall) of all advocacy groups. In May 1943, Wilson Harder left his job at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to found NFIB in Burlingame, California
, (and later moved to San Mateo
), because he believed no organization was truly representing the interests of small business. Harder created the Mandate Ballot, sent to members on a regular basis, to get their views on issues affecting their businesses. He then communicated the positions of the members to Congress (and later state legislators). Harder’s NFIB began as a for-profit organization and later became the non-profit it is today.
Harder was succeeded in 1969 by his son John, whom the board replaced six months later with Wilson S. Johnson, who rose through the ranks of the field sales organization. Under Johnson, the NFIB began to gain greater recognition in Washington and by the 1970s, in some state capitals. In the early ’80s, Johnson established the NFIB Foundation. To encourage member involvement, he created Actions Councils, which in 1987 evolved into Guardian Advisory Councils, and are now known as Leadership Councils.
Johnson was succeeded as president
(he remained board
chairman) by John Sloan in 1983 – the first chief executive to be brought in from outside the organization. Sloan installed a business structure with a sales manager, finance and administration directed by the CFO (both in San Mateo), and a public policy operation directed by a general manager in Washington. The San Mateo office eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee
in 1992.
Sloan believed that to help the field sales force gain entrée to prospects and increase sales it was necessary to put a greater emphasis on media and increase public awareness of the organization. Sloan also increased member contributions to the foundation and the Political Action Committee
.
In 1983, the Federation established the NFIB Member Services Corporation with an initial investment of $10,000 in capital stock. The Corporation is wholly owned by NFIB. Its purpose was (and is) to provide commercial programs to assist member businesses reduce operating costs. Programs included worker’s compensation insurance, health and life insurance, and merchant card processing services.
In 1992, following the death of John Sloan, Jack Faris assumed the role of president and began the shift from a sales driven organization to a member/market driven one. The purpose of NFIB was clearly identified as affecting public policy at the state and federal levels through political
and grassroots
activism
and lobbying in an integrated and coordinated manner.
During the Faris years, more emphasis was placed on giving personal attention to the member. In the past few years, NFIB has accelerated efforts to encourage activist involvement. A new management structure of five regions was created. Additional staff was added to raise the level of awareness of NFIB at the state level and encourage member activism, including direct political activism through an enhanced political department. Marketing, media and grassroots/political support are now managed within the regions – with the result being a higher level of member involvement, considerably more earned media attention and a higher political profile.
NFIB established region headquarters in Dallas
, Columbus
, Los Angeles
, Nashville, Tennessee and Silver Spring, Maryland. Each region is operated as a business unit and has the ultimate responsibility for member growth and retention in the region.
Jack Faris announced his retirement in early 2005. The board formed a search committee and selected Todd A. Stottlemyer as the 5th President of NFIB. Mr. Stottlemyer took over the reins of NFIB on February 15, 2006 with a goal of improving NFIB's non-partisan reach and technology infrastructure. The regional offices set up under the Faris administration were disbanded by Stottlemyer.
health care reform legislation while some other small business advocates supported the measure. See "Business groups split on health care bill - Business Review (Albany)" http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2010/03/22/daily2.html
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and offices in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
USA, and in all 50 state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
capitals. NFIB's lobbying efforts are focused on the impact of current and proposed legislation on businesses (primarily small business
Small business
A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...
es) and professional practices at all levels of government, but primarily at the federal and state levels. NFIB claims a membership base of about 350,000.
History
NFIB was founded by C. Wilson Harder in 1943 and maintained its headquarters in San Mateo, CaliforniaSan Mateo, California
San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
until 1992 when it was re-located to Nashville.
Beginning in its earliest history, NFIB's positions were determined by a polling of its membership. Periodic ballots (referred to as Mandates) were mailed to its members who then had an opportunity to vote their opinions on the questions presented. Once the votes were tallied, the majority position became NFIB's position.
In recent years NFIB has supported such items as tort reform
Tort reform
Tort reform refers to proposed changes in common law civil justice systems that would reduce tort litigation or damages. Tort actions are civil common law claims first created in the English commonwealth system as a non-legislative means for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to...
, repeal of the estate tax, reduction of governmental paperwork, and creation of affordable health insurance plans – by allowing small business to pool resources.
NFIB has grown from an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
ial vision in 1943 to a national organization. Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
Magazine ranks NFIB as the number one business lobby (third overall) of all advocacy groups. In May 1943, Wilson Harder left his job at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to found NFIB in Burlingame, California
Burlingame, California
Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for its many surviving examples of Victorian architecture, its affluence, and...
, (and later moved to San Mateo
San Mateo, California
San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
), because he believed no organization was truly representing the interests of small business. Harder created the Mandate Ballot, sent to members on a regular basis, to get their views on issues affecting their businesses. He then communicated the positions of the members to Congress (and later state legislators). Harder’s NFIB began as a for-profit organization and later became the non-profit it is today.
Harder was succeeded in 1969 by his son John, whom the board replaced six months later with Wilson S. Johnson, who rose through the ranks of the field sales organization. Under Johnson, the NFIB began to gain greater recognition in Washington and by the 1970s, in some state capitals. In the early ’80s, Johnson established the NFIB Foundation. To encourage member involvement, he created Actions Councils, which in 1987 evolved into Guardian Advisory Councils, and are now known as Leadership Councils.
Johnson was succeeded as president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
(he remained board
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
chairman) by John Sloan in 1983 – the first chief executive to be brought in from outside the organization. Sloan installed a business structure with a sales manager, finance and administration directed by the CFO (both in San Mateo), and a public policy operation directed by a general manager in Washington. The San Mateo office eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in 1992.
Sloan believed that to help the field sales force gain entrée to prospects and increase sales it was necessary to put a greater emphasis on media and increase public awareness of the organization. Sloan also increased member contributions to the foundation and the Political Action Committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
.
In 1983, the Federation established the NFIB Member Services Corporation with an initial investment of $10,000 in capital stock. The Corporation is wholly owned by NFIB. Its purpose was (and is) to provide commercial programs to assist member businesses reduce operating costs. Programs included worker’s compensation insurance, health and life insurance, and merchant card processing services.
In 1992, following the death of John Sloan, Jack Faris assumed the role of president and began the shift from a sales driven organization to a member/market driven one. The purpose of NFIB was clearly identified as affecting public policy at the state and federal levels through political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
and lobbying in an integrated and coordinated manner.
During the Faris years, more emphasis was placed on giving personal attention to the member. In the past few years, NFIB has accelerated efforts to encourage activist involvement. A new management structure of five regions was created. Additional staff was added to raise the level of awareness of NFIB at the state level and encourage member activism, including direct political activism through an enhanced political department. Marketing, media and grassroots/political support are now managed within the regions – with the result being a higher level of member involvement, considerably more earned media attention and a higher political profile.
NFIB established region headquarters in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Nashville, Tennessee and Silver Spring, Maryland. Each region is operated as a business unit and has the ultimate responsibility for member growth and retention in the region.
Jack Faris announced his retirement in early 2005. The board formed a search committee and selected Todd A. Stottlemyer as the 5th President of NFIB. Mr. Stottlemyer took over the reins of NFIB on February 15, 2006 with a goal of improving NFIB's non-partisan reach and technology infrastructure. The regional offices set up under the Faris administration were disbanded by Stottlemyer.
Politics
In 2010, NFIB opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care ActPatient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
health care reform legislation while some other small business advocates supported the measure. See "Business groups split on health care bill - Business Review (Albany)" http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2010/03/22/daily2.html
See also
- Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of EuropeUnion of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of EuropeFounded in 1958, BUSINESSEUROPE represents small, medium and large companies through its members, 41 leading national business organisations in 35 European countries working together to achieve growth and competitiveness in Europe...
(UNICE, now BusinessEurope) - European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises UEAPMEThe European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises or UEAPME is an umbrella group for associations of SMEs based in Brussels, Belgium. UEAPME represents the interests of European crafts, trades and SMEs at EU level...
External links
- Main Street Alliance
- Campaign finance reports and data at the FECFederal Election CommissionThe Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
- Independent Expenditures and Outside Spending at OpenSecrets.org