The February 23 story `Businesses blast governor's tax plan' was misleading and highly inaccurate. It suggested that businesses are unified in their opposition to the Governor Patrick's efforts to close corporate tax loopholes. The reality is far different. There are large multi-national corporations represented by John Regan from AIM that oppose closing corporate tax-saving schemes. However, many small business owners donšt see how these corporate tax breaks help our business or our economy. We would be very concerned about increases in sales tax, business income taxes, or real estate taxes, but asking big business to pay the same taxes we pay is not only fair, but makes good business sense for the commonwealth. To claim that this proposed legislation will harm job growth has no basis in truth. It's a well-known fact that the job growth in the nation comes from small and mid-sized companies, not large corporations. Wešve all seen how thousands of Massachusetts residents have lost their jobs because of mergers or corporate downsizing. Business is not monolithic and there are many points of view in the business community. In future articles, please speak to small business leaders as well as those who represent the large corporations.

Laury Hammel, Owner of The Longfellow Clubs, Wayland, MA and Co-Founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies