A Leader From Worcester To Washington | Carroll navigates troubled political waters as an advocate for the little guy
Francis R. Carroll didn’t have to go to Vietnam. He served his term in the U.S. Navy and got out before America’s involvement in the conflict began. Carroll has been to Vietnam, though, many times. There’s a hospital there dedicated to fallen American soldiers and Carroll was instrumental in getting it built.
One can imagine that such an undertaking involves a certain amount of politics, and it does. Today, small businesses can be thankful that Carroll began navigating the streets, halls and offices of Washington, D.C., all those years ago.
“What’s good for big business is not necessarily good for small business, and that’s been proven,” Carroll said. “That’s what gets me so passionate. The majority of legislators want to help small business. They don’t get the credit they deserve, but unless you tell them what’s happening, they don’t know. It’s a partnership.”
In order to tell legislators what’s happening, Carroll founded the Small Business Service Bureau in Worcester in 1968, just a few years after he began his efforts in Vietnam, and the political process he was introduced to through his advocacy for veterans is no less powerful in his advocacy for small business.
The political process touches almost everything the SBSB does and the way it functions.
“We don’t come out and say, ‘It’s good for the company to oppose this or support this. We always look for our members’ input,” Carroll said.
Armed with that information, SBSB goes to Washington.
“It’s our feeling that legislation will put you out of business as fast as competition,” Carroll said. “Time and again, Congress talks about helping small business, but small business ends up at the bottom of the pile.”
Richard B. Kennedy, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, called SBSB “a thought leader in health care policy as it affects small business.”
Politics As Usual
So, SBSB delves into the politics behind the policies. It forges relationships with the state’s congressional delegation, researches voting records and does in-depth studies of each and every bill and proposal that has anything to do with small business, especially health insurance. The SBSB administers insurance plans for small business nationwide.
Recently, SBSB research warned that the federal government would have to consider a European-style Value Added Tax (VAT) to pay for health care reform. In Europe, VAT rates average between 17 percent and 25 percent.
Add that to the cost of complying with health care reform in whatever form it takes and inflation and the political side of running a small business becomes apparent.
It’s a side of business ownership that deserves more attention.
Small business owners tend to fall into two camps, however: The activists and those who “don’t want to get out in front of anything because they don’t want to jeopardize the business,” Carroll said.
But there’s another group: Those who think, “If you build it, they will come.” And according to Robert L. Thomas, president, CEO and co-founder of the Martin Luther King Jr. Business Empowerment Center, Carroll’s stress on active involvement over passive observation is invaluable.
“Frank understands politics better than anyone I know,” Thomas said. “People don’t realize it’s a big part of our lives, and if you’re not involved, you’re giving up a part of your life and control over part of your life.”
Survival Mode
Thomas recalled moving to Worcester from Detroit and meeting Carroll, who encouraged him to attend a fundraiser for state Sen. Harriet L. Chandler. At the time, “I’m not thinking about politics, I’m thinking about survival,” Thomas said. “I learned that I’d better come to that event. When she sees my line item, she’ll remember my name. I learned not only do you vote, you get involved, and Frank guided me through that.”
Kennedy said the fact that Carroll not only knows his way around the state house, but that he’s been dealing with the legislature for “a significant amount of time” gives businesses access they may not have otherwise.
“He has access to and relationships with the people you need access to get your opinion known,” Kennedy said.
And for Carroll, relationships with the community and the social, charitable and advocacy organizations within the community are just as important as business relationships. His tireless efforts on behalf of those organizations has garnered Carroll much recognition in recent years.
Carroll donated office space to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts when it was in development.
Today, the Southbridge Street area between the SBSB’s Main Street offices and the theatre is known as Francis R. Carroll Plaza.
The SBSB and its employees donated $2,520 to the Telegram & Gazette’s 70th Annual Santa Fund, the largest donation of any made to the fund that year.
Carroll was also instrumental in the years-long effort to get the city’s Korean War veterans memorial built on Foster Street. He was honored in 2004 with the Isaiah Thomas Award, an award given by the Telegram & Gazette to individuals who dedicate themselves to public service.
Model Citizen
Last year, the Business Empowerment Center named the Francis R. Carroll Guiding Light Award after Carroll. The award is given to individuals or businesses that demonstrate support for inclusiveness and the development of small business.
Thomas said Carroll is what businessmen should aspire to be. In the 15 years he’s known Carroll, he’s seen him “work both sides of the aisle, and he knows everyone. He is the ultimate businessman.”
Thanks to Carroll’s guidance, the center now spends more time on networking in addition to marketing strategy, business planning and banking.
“How do you network? How do you get to know people? It’s about what you know and who you know,” Thomas said. “You have to get involved with the chamber of commerce, you have to be on boards and commissions. You have to write a check every now and then. So many businesses believe that if you build it they will come, but that is not the case.”
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