‘Real dreams’: Tonko visits local businesses ahead of Small Business Saturday to discuss tariffs

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. While many people are thinking about Thanksgiving right around the corner, small businesses are getting ready for some of the busiest shopping days of the year. Ahead of Small Business Saturday, which last year saw an estimated 29. 4% increase in consumer spending jumping from $17 billion in 2023 to $22 billion in 2024 according to the United States Census Bureau, U. S. Rep. Paul Tonko (NY-20) paid a visit to a Spa City small business to hear a bit about how they are doing going into the holiday season, especially while facing the impact of high tariffs. “Every day is a small business shopping day, but to do it formally on that one day enables us to focus on the benefit they (small businesses) bring to the community,” Tonko said regarding Small Business Saturday. “Small businesses are based on a dream and a leap forward in good faith. As a community, we are challenged to meet that leap forward. They are the engine of our economy, and a small business citizen is a very strong value addition for the community it’s an employer, they grow jobs in the area, and it enables us to see the creative genius amongst us with locals who start these fascinating journeys. “I think it’s good to have this Small Business Saturday recognition so that we stop our busy pace during the holidays to understand these are real people who are promoting real dreams they’ve had in our community. They deserve our support and respect. They’ve gone through some unnatural consequences of late with tariff applications, with restrictions on employees, with DEI restraints, and the economic climate out there has made it tougher for people to be able to participate as readily as customers.” Tonko spent Monday morning with Allison Rose, Co-Owner, Saratoga Chocolate Co., and her staff, hearing about this local small business, which was named the #3 Best Chocolate Shop in America by the 2024 USA Today Readers’ Choice Award, and how they are handling the challenges that are facing the chocolate industry. On Tuesday, Tonko will visit DeFazio’s at 216, the newest location of Troy’s famous DeFazio’s Pizzeria, which has been a local staple since 1951, to discuss how price increases have impacted its ability to serve Capital Region residents as well. Saratoga Chocolate Co. started in 2016, with their first location opening in late 2020, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and moved into their new space this May. Rose notes that the new space is about five times bigger than their previous location, which has taken some getting used to, but has allowed them to shift the location of where they do order fulfillment and has increased their staff “enormously.” “We’re proud to be a member of the community, we’re proud to hire locally and we’re proud to have a small manufacturing operation in New York,” Rose said. “We’ve had a pretty good run since 2016 when we launched and opened our first retail store across the hallway it was supposed to be March of 2020, but we all know what happened then, so we got open at the end of 2020 and we had some good, steady years, and then the last two years were pretty bumpy again.” Rose noted that the chocolate market has seen “an unprecedented collapse” in the last two years as a result of of climate impacts and crop disease, explaining further that a black pod rot that contributed to large crop loss over a period of a couple of years in Africa (where 80% of the world’s cocoa production comes from) which has contributed to large crop loss over a period of a couple of years that then put such a pinch on supply that prices. She added that policies from the current administration, namely tariffs on imported goods, have impacted the chocolate industry, especially since this is one of the products that can’t be produced domestically but has a high demand for it, so there’s no flexibility and no equal quality substitute. “The problem is that you’re stuck, so you have nothing left to do but to pass costs through,” Rose explained. “There aren’t many cheap alternatives, even within the chocolate industry. And I, for 1, am not willing to compromise on quality. I think we’ve built a premium chocolate brand intentionally, and I’m not about to back away.” While discussing this, Tonko points out that he thinks tariffs should be strategically implemented, not on items that can’t be readily produced in the US. “I think it’s why we’ve always had Congress that was supposed to be in charge of setting the tariffs,” Tonko noted. “A broader audience talking about how ‘this is an item we can’t compete with,’ and it’s not like we’re putting a tariff on other producers that would put us at a disadvantage. It makes no sense strategically to tariff an item that we’re not producing; it’s just a senseless type of approach.” Rose also pointed out that all this contributes to feeling increased price pressure, especially when all these impacts have seen the cost go up by 68% before tariff increases, which now add an extra layer on top of that, with anywhere from a 15 to 20% increase. This is also coupled with the impact on packaging and equipment cost. Rose gave the example that all of the cellophane bags and boxes the store utilizes are primarily imported from China and things like her cocoa jars went up 32% since the last time she purchased them. Also, she says she has seen a 30% increase in tariffs on her packaging. In terms of equipment, a recent purchase of equipment from Italy, since there are not that many chocolate processing pieces of equipment manufactured within the United States, jumped from $24,000 to $29,900 strictly from tariffs alone. “It’s hitting us on all of our cocoa products and ingredients. It’s hitting us on equipment. It’s hitting us on packaging,” Rose said. “When we communicate with the customer, it’s not about increasing prices for a profit grab, it’s increasing prices to remain profitable and pay our bills. We don’t have the types of cash reserves that large companies do to be able to hurry up and buy ahead when you see the market signals coming.” These rising costs have impacted other areas of the business as well, including staffing and pay. Rose shared she has “an intense desire” to raise wages and offer benefits to her staff, but with the margins being hit as they have been over the past couple of years, it has been difficult for her to move forward in a way that will foster goodwill and employee retention. “When you’re just trying to stem the bleeding, it limits your ability to recognize the people who work really hard for you and believe in what you’re trying to accomplish. You understand that they have to do what they have to do as well, because they have a family to feed and have their own bills to pay. Rose adds that she has heard first-hand that tariffs have caused other chocolatiers to close, giving the example that within one day, a local chocolate store in Colton told her that they were closing due to price increases, specifically tariff-related, and a 100-year-old family chocolate business in the Catskills went on the market for sale. “Somebody needs to look at the chocolate industry. This is a space that we have no room, no flexibility, within and industry carveouts and smart policies that don’t disadvantage local small manufacturers and local small businesses employers are essential. It’s so important that we understand that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work. The devil is always in the details, and while headlines are great, there’s reality. We need to talk about the reality of how these things are hitting.” Tonko added that it’s clear that these tariffs have really caused a lot of heartache for businesses, and this is part of why visits like this are important because they allow him to take back messages from local businesses like this and share the impact these tariffs are having on real people. “It’s not like we’re bringing in money because of tariffs, we’re digging into the consumer’s pocket and we’re digging into the small business person’s plan to get those dollars,” Tonko said. “ It’s our own people, business community, consumer community, paying the price, and that’s unfair. (Tariffs) need to be done strategically. “If you’re putting tariffs on chocolate that we can’t produce here, it’s a foolish application. It’s non-strategic.” And on top of all this, Tonko adds that the Small Business Administration, who try to network and make certain small businesses get assistance, has seen a 43% reduction in staff as well as several closings of district offices and while our district office might not be closed, he says closures do put pressure on the entire system to respond to the small businesses out there. “It’s curtailing a lot of the assistance that we should be providing. But some of the best we can do is to stop the foolishness. You know, many have said, myself included in Congress, that it should be a congressional application, not left to one person, one whim, where it’s done in a way that has not been strategic. And so we need to be very cognizant of things that we do that are going to impact that small business budget.” Rose adds that if the goal is to strengthen the American economy and support American business, the whole economy must be looked at and taken into consideration. “It’s important to recognize that being a small business owner is a daily recommitment to working towards a vision that you have and choosing to wake up and fight the fires, because they’re always going to come,” Rose said. “There’s always going to be something you have to deal with that day, but I know for certain that when I got into this business, I didn’t see a global pandemic, and I didn’t see an unprecedented crop failure, and I certainly didn’t see massive increases in prices from tariffs. “That’s a lot for any business to handle, and I’ve been doing it with a white knuckle grip and a lot of grit, and while I’m really tired, I love what I do, and I believe in what I do, and I just want to see smart policies that truly benefit small businesses. “I have a responsibility to my employees, I have a responsibility to my customers, I have a passion and a belief in what we’re doing, and I believe in my community. I want to see those things all benefit, and I want to see this business flourish . We just need some help and I know I’m not the only Chocolatier that feels that way.”.
https://www.troyrecord.com/2025/11/24/real-dreams-tonko-visits-local-businesses-ahead-of-small-business-saturday-to-discuss-tariffs/