Before becoming a small business owner, Jeff Padden, chairman of the board of directors of Public Policy Associates in Lansing, had a distinguished career in the state legislature. “All of one's experiences informs their style and capabilities as a business leader and certainly my ten years in the Michigan House of Representatives contributed in a in a very major way,” he says. “I entered the House of Representatives when I was 23 years old and served until I was 33 years old. It was the best graduate education a college dropout could ever have. I eventually went back to school after leaving the legislature and earned that bachelors and masters degree. But that ten years in the legislature exposed me to a wide range of public policy issues and [I learned more about] the complexities of finding meaningful resolutions to disagreements, disputes and controversies than I could ever have acquired anywhere else.”
Learn more about Jeff Padden’s experiences at the intersection of entrepreneurship and public policy when he is interviewed by Michael Rogers for SBAM’s Small Business Weekly Podcast.
The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.
Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own.
Our 26,000+ members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!
(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)
