CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -
James Scruggs built a business called Unlimited Possibilities from the ground up during the recession.
"I was a corporate bond trader for seven years," he says, and as the banking industry crumbled, he wanted to become his own boss.
"I got into my business right when the economy was going down," Scruggs says, "and I'm like Lord you gave me this vision, what should I do?"
Scruggs ended up landing a loan from a government entity, and that's why he supports President Obama's recent controversial statements about small biz owners.
"I actually got help. And I can relate to what he was saying. Even though it's my business, it's my ministry, it's my vision, I was able to do it through the Small Business Administration," he says.
Referencing federal programs designed to spur the economy, Obama did recently say "if you've got a business…you didn't build that…somebody else made that happen." And Mitt Romney's campaign pounced, saying the President was insulting the hard-working small biz owner.
"I agree," says Ricky Cureton, who works at a small business in Gastonia. "It's been really hard. We've been out there beating the streets and really knocking on doors ourselves. I don't see how the stimulus helped us that much either."
John Kapelar is a CPA, and he says none of his small biz clients reached success with government help. "It was the owner putting in their capital they had in the ground or being able to have a good relationship with a bank lender," he says.
North Carolina GOP Vice-Chair Wayne King gave WBTV this statement: "First the President said "the private sector is doing fine", and now he has attacked private enterprise yet again with his comments telling business owners "you didn't build that."
But others are rushing to Obama's defense, saying his statements were taken out of context.
"It's a fabricated issue and it's political season," says Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx.
Some claim Obama was actually talking about roads, and bridges with the phrase "you didn't build that."
Others believe he has every right to something else he said at the same rally… "If you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own."
"I believe he's right in that," says Moses Nueman, who works for a small IT company. "We didn't actually build this business on our own. There are a lot of people who helped with this business."
