Q: Whom do you represent?
A: I work with about 10 forgers and foundries. Several are in India and make specialty plumbing fittings, size-reduction equipment parts and components for air-conditioning compressors. I work with a company in Mexico that makes brass forgings.
Q: So how do you make money?
A: We get paid a commission, usually 1 to 2 percent, on every sale between the manufacturer and the customer, less the freight cost.
Q: How many employees do you have?
A: Right now, just two. We also work with two independent subagents.
Q: Sounds like a challenging environment right now.
A: Customers think they can save money by doing it on the Internet. For us, it's a value-added propositon. We help customers understand that working with us actually saves money because we provide time-consuming services like tracking shipments.
Q: What's up with B Corps?
A: We're a founding B Corporation, or for-benefit company. The idea is that you can do more than just create jobs and make money, that you can have a broader impact with other stakeholders, your community and the environment.
Q: So it's not just a feel-good exercise.
A: Right. They're legal entities in Pennsylvania. I use carbon offsets for travel and 100 percent renewable energy. One key for us is banking. I want my money to have leverage, so I'm moving it [from Bank of America] to Valley Green Bank, which is local and lends here.
Q: You were also among a small number of businesspeople here who signed a letter that the group Business for Shared Prosperity sent to Congress last month asking not to extend the Bush tax cuts for income over $250,000.
A: There's too much weight to the idea that higher taxes on high-income individuals hurt our economy. It feels like a convenient way not to take shared responsibility. If I have to pay an extra $4,000 in taxes, am I not going to hire people if my business needs it? What kind of businesspeople do that?
Email: hinkelm@phillynews.com
Phone: 215-854-2656
On Twitter: @MHinkelman
