Q&A: Norm Schneeberger, GS Precision

Vermont Business Magazine, Jan 01, 2005

Schneeberger: Our number one concern, the thing that threatens our business the most in remaining profitable, is the healthcare issue. Between workman's comp and healthcare, if anything is going to put us out of business, it will be those two things. They're out of control. You can talk to any business owner in this state, and it's really in the country, that this is a serious problem. I don't know what the state can do. I've always believed that more competition would mitigate the problem to a certain extent, though there are a lot of other problems associated with it. But the fact that we have so few choices in Vermont, that's got to have a negative impact.

VBM: I talked with a friend recently, and everything that she pays for her health insurance, from her share of the premium to the co-pay and the deductible, her share is doubling. If that's the case with individuals, I can imagine the same is happening to the companies.

Schneeberger: It makes no sense. Someone is getting rich, and it's not us. It's out of control. There was a lot of talk in Montpelier about improvements to the workman's comp rules and I was optimistic, based on what I heard. But I just found out that our workmen's comp, just went up 44 percent because of the particular SIC code that we're under. Someone felt that this particular code needed an increase. Now here's everyone in Montpelier thinking they've done a good thing for workmen's comp, and maybe they did, but not for us. And not for other guys in this type of business. That's a huge increase, and year after year there is only so much that we can take, and you have to remember that we're competing against countries that don't have these issues, people who don't have double digit increases in their healthcare costs yearover-year That is by far the number one concern that I have. Any business owner out there will have the same concern.

VBM: Any other areas where the state or federal government could better help businesses?

Schneeberger: I might get a little political here, but I think that the federal government did an awesome thing with the accelerated depreciation on capital equipment. It enabled us to buy a lot more new equipment to upgrade our technology than we would have otherwise been able to. That was huge, a very, very positive thing for our business and I'm sure many others.

VBM: How do you feel the economy is doing here in the Brattleboro area?

Schneeberger: To be perfectly honest, I guess I'm negligent in studying the local economy. I tend to judge it by driving down Main Street and seeing that the store fronts are pretty much filled and you see people shopping and the local unemployment rate is down. Based on that, things look pretty good. You hear some stuff about businesses moving, but I think the area can handle that. At least it has so far. Brattleboro is a very diverse community.

VBM: A few personal questions. Do you live here in Brattleboro?

Schneeberger: Yes. I have an ex-wife and two kids, 11 and 8-years-old.

VBM: What do you like to do outside the office?