Mike Betts is the chairman and CEO of one of FBA’s oldest members — the Betts Company, a sixth-generation family-owned manufacturer and supplier of springs and heavy-duty truck parts in Fresno, founded in 1868. At the 10th Annual FBA Meeting of Members on November 9, he introduced members to a new organization — the New California Coalition.
The New California Coalition is the non-partisan political home and voice for over 6.5 million “Common Sense” voters across California who want results. The group is organizing everyday voters, business leaders, and community organizations from across the state into a movement to demand change and action.
Betts provided copies of a white paper, Seizing the Semiconductor Opportunity in California-Oct20, on how California could increase competitiveness and capture federal CHIPS Act funding recently sent to the Governor, along with an op-ed published in the Fresno Bee, OP-ED NCC Heartland Chapter Final, about why Betts and other Central Valley business leaders have signed on.
We have a new member, Friedman Family, LLP. The company was founded by Morton Friedman, who was a prominent Sacramento-area attorney, in 1962. Second generation Mark Friedman now runs the company and has developed many high-quality projects under the name Fulcrum Property. The company also does real estate investments and management. Thanks once again to Dave Lucchetti for bringing another member to FBA.
FBA is pleased to announce that Downs Energy has become the newest family business to join our 10-year-old association. The company was founded in 1940 by Elvin Downs as Downs Oil and has evolved into a commercial fuel marketer serving Southern California. Now in its third generation of Downs family ownership, the Corona-based company strives to provide excellent compensation to its employees, exceptional value to its customers, and generous support to its partner charitable organizations. In other words, another great #FamilyBusiness. Welcome!
AB 2611, FBA’s sponsored bill to define a California-based family-owned business was approved by the Assembly Monday on a vote of 71-0 and referred to the Senate for further action. The bill is needed to create a standard definition of what a family business is. Currently, there are at least six definitions of small businesses across California codes, and creating a standard is essential when making economic development decisions such as tax policies, grant programs, and employee training incentives.
If approved by the Senate and signed into law by the Governor, California would be the first state in the nation to statutorily recognized a family-owned business in a way that decision-makers are able to consider the unique strengths and challenges of operating these businesses when considering future actions.
Our thanks to Assembly Member Tom Daly, D-Anaheim, for carrying the measure.
Great news! The Assembly Business and Professions Committee on April 5 unanimously passed AB 2611, FBA’s sponsored bill to create in statute a definition of a family-owned business. A uniform clear definition will provide many benefits, including that it would provide one definition that can be referenced by local municipalities that want to promote family-owned businesses within their local jurisdictions. You can read more about the bill here.
Thanks to the bill’s author, Assembly Member Tom Daly of Anaheim, committee Chair Marc Berman of Palo Alto, Vice Chair Heath Flora of Ripon, and the other committee members for voting for our measure.
The measure is now pending before the full Assembly.
