F E AT U R E
“Why Didn’t More Vape-Related
Businesses Join Groups Known
to Safeguard the Small Business
Community?”
W o r d s & P h o t o s b y To n y O t t o m a n e l l i I I
A
ll in all, there are a number of
national and local groups whose
job it is to preserve the prosperity of
the Small Business Community. Nearly
every one of these groups require
annual or lifetime membership fees and
strongly encourage additional monetary
donations. Some examples include:
● NFIB: National Federation of
Independent Business $195 per year
membership fee “The Voice of
Small Business”
● NSBA: National Small Business
Association $250/year membership fee
“America’s Small Business Advocate”
● COSE: Council of Smaller Enterprises
$350-$500 membership fee (1-9)
● SBAC: Small Business Advocacy
Council $300 annual membership
fee (1-9)
Why weren’t any Vape Shops members
of these groups?
It’s important to note how much the cost
would be per year because these groups
ONLY ADVOCATE for their members.
Yet, their philosophies and mission
statements all claim to be the ones
standing in front of the American Small
Business community, hoping to assist
them in any way possible. To be the
force which safeguards these
vulnerable businesses.
Whenever I think about more support for
the vaping industry, I often ask: where
is the Small Business Community in
the equation? The advocacy groups,
social movement organizations, political
associations, member agencies all
founded for the preservation of small
business. There are countless examples
of nonprofits and for-profits which all
play a part in proudly representing and
eagerly supporting Small Business.
For instance, the political organization,
National Federation of Independent
66 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE USA
Business (NFIB) has over 325,000
members, they state that:
“NFIB is America’s leading small
business association, promoting and
protecting the right of our members to
own, operate and grow their business.”
Perhaps if some of the independent
small businesses in the vaping industry
were “members” than they would also be
protected. An online-only membership
costs just $195 lasting for a period of 1
year, surely many eLiquid manufacturers
and vape shops could possibly afford
this. Perhaps, this would have been a
valuable investment. Now that the FDA
has placed regulations to the fullest
extremes, essentially attempting to
dismantle an entire industry’s small
business sector, being members of these
Small Business Advocacy Organizations
surely could provide access to the
channels in which the Vape Community