Stakeholder Spotlight
Michael Araten is the President and CEO of Sterling Drive Ventures, LP. Sterling Drive Ventures is a third-generation family company based in Hatfield, PA, that owns The Rodon Group, a plastics injection business founded in 1956, among other ventures.
The challenges of doing business in Philadelphia
Michael wants to conduct more business in Philadelphia, but he says doing so is difficult because of the city’s tax structure and bureaucracy. Michael believes if city officials enact substantive tax reforms, and make it easier for small businesses to transact and open new locations, Philadelphia would lure more companies into the city. This, in turn, would boost revenues and allow City Hall to improve services for residents.
"I would sum it up as: get to zero city wage tax as fast as you can get to zero Business Income and Receipts Tax as fast as you can. (This will) encourage the formation of businesses here. As the taxes go down over five years, the receipts still stay the same or actually go up, as the businesses get formed and the employees live and work and love being in the City of Brotherly Love.”
