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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