August 1 • 2019 19
jn
Trip to the Capitol
Local small business owners
want their voices heard in Congress.
W
hen government policies
affect your life, you need to
do some self-advocating to
implement change. That was why local
entrepreneur Marty Babayov, 27, visit-
ed Washington, D.C., in April as part
of a lobbying trip arranged by eBay.
Since 2016, Babayov’
s focus has
primarily been on The Suit Depot, his
expansive Oak Park retail store, but
eBay remains an important part of his
business.
“We discovered that many issues
being debated in Washington have a
real impact on us and countless local
small businesses,
” Marty said, “espe-
cially now that our efforts are being
focused on our store.
”
Esther Babayov, 28, Marty’
s sister
and The Suit Depot’
s marketing and
communications manager, joined
Marty on the trip. “It seems like when
policymakers write laws, they’
re think-
ing of big companies but not necessar-
ily the small ones that will be affected
all around America. If we’
re going to
be affected, we need our voices heard.
”
One issue she gave as an example
is postal reform, which is constantly
being debated in Washington. While
bigger companies like Amazon and
Target tend to use UPS or FedEx,
small business owners most often
use the notoriously inefficient U.S.
Postal Service. In fact, she said, eBay
businesses combined are the USPS’
second-largest customer in the coun-
try. According to eBay, their sellers
bring in a combined income of more
than $1 billion yearly in Michigan
alone.
While in the capitol, the Babayovs
also urged representatives to keep
often-overlooked small businesses in
mind when creating trade policies that
affect them.
During their jam-packed two-day
itinerary, the Babayovs visited Sen.
Gary Peters, met with the staff of
Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Sen. Debbie
Stabenow and had an arranged meet-
ing with Rep. Brenda Lawrence in the
hallway in between engagements.
The visits were well-received. “They
are elected to represent us so we need
to make sure they’
re aware of what it
is we want and need, and how we feel
about certain things. They’
re in D.C.
most of the year. We need to keep
them apprised about what’
s important
for people back home,
” Esther said.
According to Constance Logan,
Michigan district director of the Small
Business Administration, “It is import-
ant for entrepreneurs and small busi-
ness owners to advocate for themselves
to Congress.
”
Esther admits their visit likely
accomplished very little. “They keep
tabs on how many people they hear
from and what they speak about. If
they’
re getting a ton of concerned calls
from constituents on an issue, hopeful-
ly they’
ll eventually do something.
”
The Babayovs, who attend services
at Congregation Ahavas Yisroel on
Greenfield Road in Oak Park, said
they didn’
t visit in order to change
anyone’
s mind anyhow. “It was more
about making them aware of the
implication of their issues … keep-
ing the relationship open with the
officials we elected, saying we know
you’
re there for us — well, this is what
we need,
” Esther said. “That’
s what
America is all about.
” ■
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARTY BABAYOV
ABOVE: Rep. Brenda Lawrence and Marty
Babayov. TOP: Small business owners talk to
Sen. Gary Peters.
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