By Martha M. Hamilton - Washingtonpost.com:
Jeanette Howarth would love to offer better benefits to employees who work for Howarth Excavating and wishes more employees would participate in her company’s retirement plan.
She’s run the Michigan small business with her husband, Richard, for 28 years. At one point they offered both health-care and retirement coverage to their tiny staff. But as the cost of health care escalated and times got tougher, they dropped health-care coverage. The retirement plan survives, but participation — even by the owners — has been minimal.
“The construction industry is fraught with a lot of overhead, especially with Michigan being so depressed right now,” said Howarth, whose company is headquartered in Newago, about 45 miles north of Grand Rapids. “So many people are moving out of Michigan and losing jobs that it’s quite scary.”
Although Howarth is 50 and her husband is 54, their retirement savings “are pretty meager,” she said. Any extra money they make goes right back into the business. More.
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