SBAM invited Garlin Gilchrist II to respond to a questionnaire on issues impacting Michigan’s small business community. Explore his positions and priorities on key issues affecting small businesses and the role of the Secretary of State’s office.
| QUESTION 1: Why are you the best Secretary of State candidate for the small business community? |
| As a two-time recovering entrepreneur, I know what it feels like to be up against a filing deadline, to need a same-day answer from a state office and not get one, and to lose time and money navigating paperwork instead of building your business. These issues are not abstract to me and my experiences as an entrepreneur shape how I see this office: not as a bureaucratic checkpoint, but as a service that should work for the people trying to create jobs and opportunity in their communities.
I’m also the only candidate with a software engineering background, and I intend to put that to direct use. The Secretary of State’s office runs on systems and processes that are decades overdue for modernization. I know how to evaluate whether those systems are actually serving people well, and how to fix them, not just talk about fixing them. |
| QUESTION 2: What can be done to streamline services for the small business community? |
| I believe we can streamline services for the small business community in three ways. First, I will utilize my background as a software developer and computer engineer to modernize the office’s online filing so entrepreneurs can register, renew, and update a business in the most efficient way possible.
Second, I’ll work to expand branch capacity and access, particularly outside Southeast Michigan, particularly for those needing walk-in services, so a business owner in Iron Mountain or Alpena doesn’t face longer waits or fewer options than one in Oakland County. Third, I’ll make the rules and deadlines themselves predictable. Small businesses without dedicated compliance staff are often penalized more for confusion than for actual wrongdoing. I want this office to communicate clearly and proactively about what’s required. |
| QUESTION 3: What is working the best and what are the areas in most need of improvement regarding services to small businesses? |
| What’s working is the foundation. Michigan has built out real digital infrastructure for basic transactions, and the state’s broader business climate has been recognized nationally as strong and improving. That’s a good base to build from, and it means the Secretary of State’s office isn’t starting from scratch.
Where I think the most improvement is furthering the digitization of the Secretary of State’s office and continuing to close the gap between what can be done online and what still requires an in-person visit. For most residents, that’s an inconvenience. For a small business owner, it’s lost revenue, every hour spent at a branch office is an hour not spent running the business. Any transaction that still requires showing up in person, whether it’s a business filing, a title transfer, or a credentialing step, should be evaluated for whether it actually needs to be in person at all. As someone who’s started and run businesses myself, and as an engineer by training, I’d approach this by pushing this office to keep closing that gap, treating every remaining in-person requirement as a problem to solve rather than a fixed cost of doing business with the state. |
| QUESTION 4: How do you plan to gain insights into the small business community and their needs? |
| The same way I’ve approached this job as Lieutenant Governor: by showing up. I’ve visited all 83 counties in Michigan at least three times and that is how I’ve learned that the view from Lansing often doesn’t match the reality on the ground. As Secretary of State, I’ll keep doing that: regular, direct engagement with small business owners and organizations like SBAM, not just at election time, but as an ongoing practice once in office.
I also intend to build a direct line between my own experience running businesses and the way this office is managed. And because of my technical background, I’ll be able to look under the hood of the systems and processes this office runs, not just take a vendor’s or staff’s word for what’s working, and identify where the friction actually is. |