Local business owner expects to reap benefits

A Youngstown businessman says he plans to buy equipment and add workers.
By DAVID ENRICH
STATES NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON -- Michael Kovatch, who owns City Machine Technologies Inc. in Youngstown, was one of hundreds of business and political leaders who crowded into the White House to watch President Bush sign a $350 billion tax-cut bill.
The White House tapped Kovatch last month to participate in an economic- and tax-policy discussion with Bush and other Ohio business leaders.
Kovatch said he was selected after the U.S. Treasury Department determined that his company would benefit from the president's proposed tax cut.
After watching Wednesday afternoon's signing ceremony in the opulent East Room, Kovatch applauded Bush and Congress for passing the package, which slashes taxes on dividends and capital gains and offers businesses incentives to buy new equipment.
Unlike most Mahoning Valley taxpayers -- who would see relatively small savings under the tax cut, according to Democratic analyses -- Kovatch said he and his wife would reap considerable financial benefits from the package's lower taxes.
Business plans
Kovatch also said that City Machine Technologies, which has 70 employees, plans to buy new machines and hire several employees as a result of the company's expected tax savings. The company is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
But he added that the company already is thriving -- in sharp contrast to the many businesses nationwide that have been shedding jobs -- and that Bush and congressional Republicans said Kovatch and others like him would be among the key beneficiaries of their plan.
"Right now, quite honestly, borrowing rates are quite good. This is just icing on the cake," Kovatch said. "We've been very fortunate. ... I think we're [doing] a little better than the typical example."