First, the ad and then the accompanying press release below the fold.

Go, Chellie!  

Chellie Pingree’s first campaign commercial starts airing today

Ad highlights Pingree’s experience, commitment to small business in Maine

October 5, 2010

For immediate release

Today Chellie Pingree started airing her first TV commercial of her reelection campaign.  The ad focuses on Pingree’s small business experience and fight to create policies that help small businesses in Maine grow and expand.

Pingree has a long history of supporting and working in small businesses and believes that economic recovery depends on promoting and supporting small businesses.

Pingree started “North Island Yarn” in North Haven in the 1980s.  After selling wool and yarn from the sheep she raised on her farm, Pingree expanded into selling yarn and knitting kits, eventually distributing over 100,000 mail order catalogs around the country.  The company created 10 full-time jobs with medical benefits–a significant economic contribution to the small island of North Haven.

More recently, Pingree bought and restored Nebo Lodge, an inn and restaurant on North Haven that had been closed for many years.

“I know what it’s like to pay taxes and meet a payroll,” Pingree says in the commercial.

In Congress, Pingree has voted to cut taxes for small businesses and increase lending to help business expand and hire new workers.

“Maine is built on small businesses,” Pingree said.  “And in these tough economic times we need to do everything we can to get them the financing they need and reduce the their tax burden.”

The commercial is airing widely on TV stations and cable networks throughout southern Maine and can be viewed here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

Below is a more detailed summary of Pingree’s commitment to small business and how she’s fought to protect and promote small business in Maine.

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Chellie Pingree’s Record on Small Business in Maine

Chellie Pingree has a long history of small business development that includes both owning her own small businesses and advocating for common sense solutions to strengthen small businesses in Maine.  As a Maine State Senator, she was co-chair of the Maine Economic Growth Council and proposed a bond issue to provide funds to small businesses.  As a Member of Congress, she has introduced legislation to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, voted to exempt small businesses from capital gains taxes and voted to authorize $29 billion for small business loans.

Pingree is a small business owner

As a small business owner, Chellie Pingree knows first hand what it takes to start a business, meet a payroll, and create jobs.  Before she was elected to the Maine State Senate, Chellie, like a lot of Mainers, was an entrepreneur:

Operated small farm in Morrill, Maine, 1973-1976

Operated small farm on North Haven, Maine, 1977-1980

Founder and owner Northern Island Yarn, 1981-1993 (Became North Island Designs, 1986)

In 2004, while also President and CEO of Common Cause, Chellie collaborated with several local partners to purchase and renovate the former “Nebo Lodge” located near her home on North Haven.  Nebo Lodge reopened its doors in 2006 with 8 rooms and a now-popular restaurant.  Chellie and her family operate the Inn with Hannah Pingree serving as the manager.

Pingree has a strong record on the issues that relate to small business development

Arriving at the Legislature in 1992 with a keen understanding of business based on her own experiences, Pingree’s colleagues appointed her Senate Chair of the joint Housing and Economic Development Committee, and Co-chair of the Maine Economic Growth Council in 1993. (1)

In Augusta and Congress, Pingree has successfully advocated for funding to bolster Maine’s small businesses:

In Augusta, Senator Pingree co-sponsored legislation to provide nearly $6 million to increase tourism marketing support and develop a more cohesive and engaged tourism industry to generate additional returns from expenditures of state funds. (2)   She also worked to fund programs and activities designed to provide a long-term enhancement of the state’s science and technology infrastructure. (3)  Pingree also supported reviewing government regulation of small business and worked to establish a special commission to study the effects of government regulation and health insurance costs on small business in Maine. (4)  

In Congress in 2009, Pingree voted to authorize $29 billion for small business loans and led the fight for the Small Business Financing and Investment Act–a bill that will help create jobs by making more tools and investment financing and capital available to small businesses, (5) as well as a Republican motion to study whether or not SBA loans fail to provide adequate business capital to offset increases in taxes, health care and energy costs. (6)

“This is a bill that will support small businesses when they need it most by helping them access the investments they need to survive, to grow, to expand, and to create the jobs that will drive our economic recovery,” Pingree said in her testimony on the House floor.

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(1)  Republican Journal, 1/7/93 and (Bangor  Daily News, 12/20/93

(2)  LD 1478, Emergency Enactment (Voice Vote), 7/1/93.  Bill provided nearly $6 million to increase to tourism marketing support and develop a more cohesive and engaged tourism industry to generate additional returns from expenditures of state funds.  It was signed into law by the Governor.  PINGREE COSPONSORED THE BILL.

(3)  LD 1467, 1993.  The legislation sought to appropriate funds to programs and activities designed to provide a long-term enhancement of the state’s science and technology infrastructure.  It was killed in the Senate.  PINGREE SPONSORED THE BILL.

(4)  LD 1905, Final Passage, Passed 26-0, 6/20/97.  The bill established a special commission to study the effects of government regulation and health insurance costs on small business in Maine.  It was signed into law by the Governor.  PINGREE VOTED FOR THE BILL.

(5)  H.R. 3854, the Small Business Financing and Investment Act of 2009 passed by a vote of 389-32.  According to Congressional Quarterly, the legislation “would reauthorize and modify Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs.  It would authorize $20 billion in fiscal 2010 and 2011 for SBA 7(a) loans, and $9 billion in fiscal 2010 and $10 billion in fiscal 2011 for loans to small businesses working to address community development goals.  It would extend some stimulus programs to allow the SBA to increase loan limits and authorize additional loans to renewable-energy industries and businesses in low-income communities and rural areas.  It would provide loan guarantees to healthcare professionals purchasing health information technology.” [H.R. 3854, Vote #830, 10/29/09; CQ Floor Votes, House Roll Call Vote 830, 10/29/09]

(6)  The motion amended the Small Business Financing and Investment Act to require “the Small Business Administration to study if agency loans fail to provide adequate capital for businesses to offset increases in income taxes, health care expenses, energy costs and other provisions.”  The House agreed to the motion by a vote of 272-149. [H.R. 3854, Vote #829, 10/29/09; CQ Floor Votes, House Roll Call Vote 829, 10/29/09]