Businesses don’t want to be immigration police

What’s was the top concern of local small business owners attending last week’s National Federation of Independent Business?

Immigration.

Specifically, they want a federal employer verification law that doesn’t put the burden of proof on them. In other words, if they hire an illegal immigrant who gets the job by producing phony documents and paperwork, they don’t want to take the heat.

“They don’t want to be held accountable for making an honest mistake,” said David Raynor, the NFIB’s Georgia state director. “It shouldn’t be incumbent upon them to verify the authenticity.”

That’s why the group supports the New Employee Verification Act (H.R. 5515), which piggybacks on an existing system that tracks down parents who don’t pay child support. It also supports the employee verification portion of the Secure America though Verification and Enforcement Act (H.R. 4088), which gives small businesses (which usually don’t have professional human resources staff) more time to comply with the law.

As proof the NFIB isn’t “anti-immigrant,” it supports extending the cap on the H-2B program, which allows foreigners to work seasonal jobs in industries that have trouble finding American workers during peak seasons.

The NFIB said that many small seasonal business, such as landscapers, commercial fishers and crabbers and hoteliers could even go out of business if the program cap of 66,000 foreign workers isn’t extended.

HOW CAN THERE BE A SHORTAGE OF U.S. WORKERS?: I see plenty of able-bodied young people standing around holding paper bags every time I drive through Harrisburg on Broad Street.

They must be on their lunch hour, I guess.

MEDIA REPORTING ON MEDIA: There’s some speculation out there that the local NBC affiliate, WAGT-TV (Channel 26) is being put on the market. The station’s owner, South Bend, Ind.-based Schurz Communications, said no deal is in the works.

Schurz Senior Vice President Marci Burdick, who was general manager of the station several years ago, said she believes what has fueled the speculation is that the company chose not to replace Jeff Marks after he was promoted to run the company’s station in Roanoke, Va., last year. Since then, his duties have been overseen by the station’s business manager, Marilyn Brock, who is serving as interim general manager.

“We have the luxury of having a very good business manager,” Ms. Burdick said.

SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE FOR SALE: The Canadian investment fund that owns Augusta’s Castleberry’s Food Co. hasn’t expanded on its recent announcement that it is exploring a possible sale of the canned meat company linked to last year’s botulism scare involving cans of hot dog chili. Connor Bros. Income Fund said it wants to boost its seafood side of the business, which includes Bumble Bee Foods, the company that oversees Castleberry operations.

We were interested in getting an update on the possible sale, so Chronicle Business Reporter Tim Rausch registered for, and participated in, a conference call with company officials earlier this month. When it came time for the question-and-answer session, Tim’s requests to ask a question were ignored.

We are unsure if we were passed over on purpose. I’ll chalk it up to a communications glitch unless it happens again.

SOMETHING THAT IS DEFINITELY FOR SALE: We’re used to a lack of communication from some companies, including Xethanol Corp., the (picture me making quote marks in the air with my fingers) biofuel company currently trying to sell what is left of the former Pfizer Inc. facility it purchased in 2006 to turn into an ethanol refinery.

According to its most recent report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the 40-acre Augusta facility is still up for sale, though it has not retained a brokerage firm to market the property as of March 31. One would think the company would like to do that quickly as possible, considering the property costs the company an estimated $50,000 a month in overhead.

Here are some other interesting numbers from the filing:

$8.4 million: Purchase price of Augusta facility

$3.1 million: Proceeds from sale of surplus equipment at the facility.

$2 million: Company net loss for the three-month period ending March 31.

One other interesting tidbit, the company’s corn-based Xethanol BioFuels plant in Blairstown, Iowa – the company’s only property that sells any biofuel – was closed May 1 to “reduce its operating losses.”