Small Businesses Need Help; Device Tweets for Dogs
HOLMES: President Obama says it all the time: that small business creates two out of three jobs in this country, and last week the president announced a $350 billion plan to help those businesses. So what are the owners saying about it? CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow joins me now from New York. Poppy, the president says he wants to give $350 billion to small business. Surely small business owners like the sound of that?</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. It's interesting. They want more aid, yes. When you heard the president make that announcement sort of mid-last week we wanted to find a company that could show us exactly what they were doing with government money, how much more they need. So we went into this small business. It's family owned. They started it in the 1980s. They're still up and running today, but they talked to us about the challenges and also the benefits that they face right now. Namely, what they think the government should stop doing. Take a listen.</s>HARLOW: How hard is it to run a small business right now?</s>MICHAEL HORSBURGH, PRESIDENT, RIDGID PAPER TUBE CORPORATION: It's not something that you can just take a back seat on. You have to always be involved in every aspect of the business. How much more do you have to do? This is your last box?</s>HARLOW: We hear so often, nothing is made in America anymore. Not true. Your company makes paper tubes.</s>HORSBURGH: Yes. Made in America. Materials are purchased in America and Canada, and our workforce are local people. We have the opportunity to add more jobs locally.</s>HARLOW: Is the president's latest plan, a $200 billion tax break for businesses, is that what small businesses need right now?</s>HORSBURGH: We need anything we can get. I would look into additional equipment to replace the equipment that we have now.</s>HARLOW: Would that mean hiring more workers?</s>HORSBURGH: It would. It would allow us to put on a second shift. We currently have about 27 employees now. I hope to have 50 employees within the next two years. I'd like to modernize our production lines and get into a larger building.</s>HARLOW: What do you think the government could do that it's not doing for small businesses?</s>HORSBURGH: I think that, as far as unemployment extensions go, they could limit the amount of extensions they put. We've had a "help wanted" sign out front for probably six months. People come in. They fill out applications, but ultimately we end up just signing their slip that they've been here, that they've looked for a job.</s>HARLOW: To get unemployment benefits?</s>HORSBURGH: Absolutely. They're telling me that they're happy with the unemployment benefits they're receiving now, and maybe when they end they'll consider it. There has to be a point in time where somebody starts fresh, gets back into a company, starting even if it's less than what they were making before, because there's plenty of upward mobility in my company. If you're an aggressive, hard-working person, there's plenty of opportunities for you.</s>HARLOW: And you know, that's kind of a harsh reality, T.J., for some folks out there, the fact that, you know, here's a company that says they're willing to hire. People come in. They apply. They get their unemployment form signed. And then they're called back for a second interview at this company, and they say, "Sorry, we'd rather get unemployment." That's not a popular thing to talk about, but here's a company that is clearly hiring even in this environment, and yet people would rather be on unemployment than making minimum wage right there. Not the norm, but certainly something that you have to take account for in a time like this.</s>HOLMES: Yes, it needs to be accounted for. Because we hear so much from Democrats and Republicans. Good that you got out there, actually hearing from a business owner who could be affected. Poppy, we appreciate you, as always. Need to let you know, Poppy, of course, part of the best financial team on television out there. You can catch Poppy and, of course, all of our money team on "YOUR $$$$$," hosted by Ali Velshi and also Christine Romans. Coming up here, you know, just about everyone plugging into Twitter for instant updates for everything from family to finances. Now you can add Fido to the list. Who knew this was coming? CNN's Gary Tuchman takes us to the "Edge of Discovery" with doggy tweets.</s>GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Roscoe. Thanks to his high-tech tag, he's learning a new trick. How to tweet.</s>RACHEL COOPER, MATTEL: While I'm at work I'm able to hop on Twitter, and I can see what my dog is up to.</s>TUCHMAN: These pups aren't pawing away at a keyboard, though. Their tags have a motion censor and microphone that can tell when they move or bark.</s>RON BAGLEY, DESIGN DIRECTOR, MATTEL: Data is sent from the tag to the antenna and the software evaluates this data that's coming in and determines an appropriate tweet to send to your dog's Twitter page.</s>TUCHMAN: So now you'll know now when your dog is taking a nap, chasing its tail or even chasing away the mailman. It might be a novelty toy, but developing it was doggone tough.</s>BAGLEY: We spent many days in many different homes with dogs trying these on, putting these on dogs' collars and having them sit still and run around. We would test the very little dogs, like Chihuahuas, on up to big dogs like Great Danes. And this helped us to tune the microphone to be able to pick up on this broad range of volume, decibel level.</s>TUCHMAN: Cutting-edge technology that might end up a chew toy. Gary Tuchman, CNN.</s>HOLMES: Well, some clerics have called it blasphemous. Some parents probably won't even give it a chance. A comic book series that promotes basic human values, but does it for the prism of Islam? We're talking to the creator of "The 99." He's next.