Pat Soldano opened the event by thanking Members of Congress, congressional staff, and family-owned businesses for joining the first Family Enterprise USA (FEUSA) Capitol Hill event of 2025. The event first featured a breakfast reception attended by Reps. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), and Stacey Plaskett (D-VI).
Pat kicked off the panel discussion by first noting that FEUSA is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating stakeholders on the important role of family-owned businesses, including by raising awareness with Members of Congress and voters that family businesses come in all sizes. Pat noted the theme of the event was women-owned family businesses and introduced the panel of mostly women business owners to attendees.
Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) then provided opening remarks highlighting recent engagement with women-owned business owners. Rep. Plaskett noted her role on the House Ways and Means Committee and pledged to evaluate issues important to women-owned businesses, including estate taxes. We were then joined by Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), who emphasized his past experience as a business owner and his role on the House Small Business Committee. Rep. Stauber stressed that women-owned businesses are the bedrock of our economy and acknowledged that family- and women-owned businesses must overcome burdensome regulations to succeed. Stauber encouraged the women business owners to respond to government Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and highlighted his legislation to help ensure women-owned small businesses benefit from federal contracting preferences.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Congressional Family Business Caucus for the 118th Congress, then discussed his experience as part of a family-owned business. Schneider stressed that Congress must ensure access to talent, capital, and a stable economic environment for small and family-owned businesses to thrive. He noted that a lack of certainty in the economic environment and policy increases risk for businesses. Next, Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV) discussed her experience owning a family real estate business and a family bison ranch. Rep. Miller underscored the need to bring business experience to policy and legislating on Capitol Hill. Miller stressed the importance of extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to prevent tax increases on families and family-owned businesses and urged family-owned businesses to communicate their priorities to their Members of Congress.
We then heard from Debbie McKee-Fowler (Chair of the Board, McKee Foods) who noted that her family business, McKee Foods, better known as the maker of Little Debbie snack foods, is a fourth-generation family-owned business which is over 40 percent women-owned. McKee-Fowler stressed that less than a quarter of family-owned businesses survive to the third generation and emphasized the negative impact of the estate tax on transitioning family-owned businesses between generations. McKee-Fowler also highlighted the impact of tariffs on her business.
Next, Kimberly Smith (President, PLIDCO) discussed her third-generation pipeline repair and manufacturing business. She highlighted the importance of restoring immediate expensing for research and development (R&D) expenses, which would allow PLIDCO to employ between 2 to 4 more employees annually. Smith also noted her business spent 15 years working with attorneys to plan for succession. Angela Simmons (Owner, ABS Legacy Partners) discussed the important role of family-owned businesses in their communities, including through philanthropic efforts. She also noted her experience in advising family-owned businesses on transitioning to the next generation and planning for the estate tax. Simmons warned that the estate tax harms communities and employees by forcing businesses to close their doors and urged Congress to reduce the estate tax rate to 20 percent and consider estate tax deferral.
Ken Monroe (President, Holt of California) then discussed his construction equipment business, which is partially women-owned. He noted that, like many family-owned businesses, his business faces challenges from the estate tax and potential challenges from wealth taxes. He stressed that a wealth tax would harm his business’s ability to grow and noted that his business operates in cyclical industries, with large business assets tied in inventory. Next, Rosana Bianco (President & CEO, Mark One) highlighted two major barriers to successful family businesses: the estate tax and capital gains taxes. She urged Congress to repeal or reduce the estate tax, reflecting on family’s experience quickly planning the transition of her family-owned business following the death of her parents. Bianco also discussed challenges in accessing women-owned business contracting incentives due to classifications used by the Small Business Administration to measure the size of construction businesses.
Cheryl Osborn (President, Casco Contractors) then discussed the importance of the Section 199A deduction for pass-through businesses and R&D incentives. She also noted that her family-owned business has a higher effective tax rate than many of her competitors which are C corporations. Next, Meghan Hanna (President, Evolve Wellness, Inc.) noted that the current tax policy environment poses significant barriers to entry and challenges for growth for startup businesses and entrepreneurs, including high self-employment taxes and a lack of deductions for growing businesses. She urged Congress to enact tax policies that reward growth and reinvestment in businesses. Bridget Herdman (Principal, Herdman Architecture and Design) noted that state and local policies in California limit her ability to reinvest in her business and hire more employees. She urged Congress to extend expiring TCJA provisions benefiting family-owned businesses, including Section 199A, and to restore the immediate deductibility of R&D expenses.
We then heard from Bob Mancuso (CEO, Capri Capital Partners) who discussed his role in protecting the legacies and lifetime savings of his clients. Next, Junette McCarthy (Founder, McCarthy Wealth Management) discussed the experience of her clients in planning for the estate tax, including a case where life insurance policies worth $2 million per owner were not sufficient to pay a client’s estate tax liabilities. She recounted that many clients have had to sell their family-owned businesses to pay the estate tax rather than leave their business for the next generation, despite paying taxes on their income over their lifetimes.
Pat Soldano then presented a video on the Congressional Family Business Caucus, which is currently being reformed for the 119th Congress. Next, John Gugliada presented the results of FEUSA’s annual survey of family-owned businesses, which featured responses from over 650 businesses in 45 states. He shared that family-owned businesses generate over 80 million jobs, or 59 percent of the private sector workforce, and over $7.7 trillion in GDP. John also shared respondents’ tax policy priorities, including addressing the national debt and the estate tax. Finally, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) joined and thanked the family-owned businesses in attendance for their work and called on the businesses to brainstorm ideas on how to raise capital.
Pat Soldano closed the event by reminding Members of Congress, staff, and attendees that FEUSA is an organization of family-owned businesses and sponsors. Pat shared that FEUSA is partnered with 17 trade association members and is currently 9,000 members short of reaching 1 million member businesses and sponsors.
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The need for fact-based reporting of issues important to family owned businesses and protecting a lifetime of savings has never been greater. Now more than ever, successful families and family owned businesses are under fire. That's why Family Enterprise USA is passionately working to increase the awareness of issues important to family owned businesses built on hard work, while continuing to strengthen our presence on Capitol Hill. The issues we fight for or against with Congress in Washington DC include high income tax rates, possible elimination of valuation discounts, increase in capital gains tax, enactment of a wealth tax, and the continued burden of the gift tax, estate tax and generation skipping tax.
Family Enterprise USA promotes generationally owned family business creation, growth, viability, and sustainability by advocating for family businesses and their lifetime of savings with Congress in Washington DC. Since 2007, Family Enterprise USA has represented and celebrated all sizes, professions and industries of family-owned enterprises and multi-generational employers. It is a bi-partisan 501.c3 organization. Family foundations can donate.
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