State senator and democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen stopped at Cantinflas restaurant in Greenville Monday to discuss small-business concerns.
It was the first of two stops in Greenville that day. Dubbed part of Sheheen’s “Small Business Listening Tour,” Sheheen talked with Cantinflas owner Ruben Montalvo before the two addressed media.
Sheheen said commercial business taxes and industrial tax rates are among the most serious threats to small business.
Sheheen said as governor he would streamline workforce training, which he said is now being handled by seven different state agencies. He named infrastructure as another serious issue he said cannot be properly addressed with a single revenue stream like the gas tax. His plan is to explore bonds, leasing of public lands and automobile sales taxes as additional sources.
He said South Carolina’s universities and technical schools are strong points on which to build, but higher education needs to be made more affordable.
Montalvo, who has owned multiple businesses in the Greenville area, agreed that property taxes are a problem. He also called on the Legislature to address education and policies that keep undocumented immigrants from attaining higher education or driver’s licenses.
Sheheen said he plans to spend a lot of time campaigning in Greenville, noting that he “did better than the average Democrat” in Greenville during his unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial bid and is seeing even more support in this campaign.
He acknowledged that his campaign’s fundraising lags behind that of Gov. Nikki Haley. The most recent disclosures showed $1.1 million raised, just a third of the Haley campaign’s $3.2 million. However, he said 90 percent of his funds raised are coming from within South Carolina.
