To the Editor:
In the Lowcountry, small companies and neighborhood retail shops do more than transact business. They employ people, anchor commercial corridors, and absorb shocks that larger corporations can spread across markets. My wife Caitlyn and I run a small marketing agency, and we have learned that volatility is not theoretical. It becomes a payroll decision.
Tariffs implemented overnight are a key example. When trade policy changes quickly, costs and lead times shift, and small businesses are forced into a familiar set of bad options: raise prices, cut inventory, or postpone investment, cut hours, or delay hiring. Families feel this burden immediately.
But tariffs are only one cause of a more broad, market problem: unpredictability in the basic costs of living and doing business. Health care costs rise in ways that make benefit decisions and planning difficult, and lack of transparency creates hesitation for pursuing wellness. Housing costs climb while wages lag, shrinking the labor pool and pushing Lowcountry workers farther from their jobs, with little public transportation infrastructure to support them. The dollar has been devalued dramatically through government spending. Over time, a region that depends on local enterprise becomes less stable and more expensive.
Government cannot eliminate every economic pressure, but it can stop adding avoidable chaos and restore basic trust. That starts with clear rules, transparent pricing, and serious oversight that puts the public interest ahead of special interests. Public service should not be a wealth strategy for elected officials.
I am running for Congress in South Carolina District 1 because we need leaders who understand what it means to run a business in 2026, when technology and artificial intelligence are rapidly reshaping jobs, accelerating fraud, and putting new pressure on privacy. The future is not coming. It is here. The government has to keep pace with competence and integrity, not self dealing or reckless policy.
The Lowcountry runs on small businesses like mine. Stability and affordability for our families should be treated as priorities, not afterthoughts. When elected to Congress, Lowcountry families and businesses will be a priority.
KJ Atwood
Mount Pleasant, SC
For more information, KJAtwood.com.