Family man and rural small business owner Barry Selland has his mother’s legacy and his daughters’ futures to protect — and he needs his representatives in Washington to help him do it.

“I don’t sleep very much,” Selland said after listing the economic issues affecting his South Dakota business, Selland Trucking.

The issues also affect just about every company right now — the cost of living to a competitive labor market.

His mother, Barb, started the family business in 1975, so they’ve seen their fair share of inflation and recessions. Now that Selland’s daughters, Jessica and Morgan, are done with college and back in their hometown of Woonsocket, they’re working in the office with their father, who hopes to see them take over Selland Trucking some day.

Before then, he’s got obstacles to overcome.

“One would be workforce. Being in rural America, our population is very small. It’s very hard to find. We have great people, great drivers (and) great employees, but it’s hard to find more,” Selland said between meetings with South Dakota lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday with a group of other rural small business owners organized by Goldman Sachs.

According to a new Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices survey, 38% say they want support in offering more competitive benefits to their employees. A lack of affordable child care plays a big role: 47% of rural small business owners said it makes it difficult to attract workers to their community, versus 24% of small businesses in suburbs and 33% of small businesses in cities.

“We do offer 401(k), health insurance. We offer everything, but to get affordable, good health insurance to compete against the mega companies is super, super hard,” Selland said.

Sariah Bronson, owner of Silver Pro Solutions in Mount Pleasant, Utah, has four employees. Just two weeks ago, she lost a member of her staff because she couldn’t compete with a better offer. She said Congress could provide relief through tax credits and a more efficient tax code.

“The tax credits — there’s a lot of them that can help us with the child care side of helping our employees out, but they clash with each other, so if they get one then the other one gets canceled out,” Bronson said.

According to the survey, two-thirds believe the tax code should be simplified for small businesses.

“You’re trying to do the best that you can and follow all of them but each state is so different and then all of the national ones are so different and to jump through all the hoops, it can be a crazy circus,” Bronson said.

Then, there’s the issue no one can escape: inflation.

“Our budget has definitely had to increase to meet the demands of inflation,” said Bree Thompsen, owner of Breezy Fresh Cleaning Co. in Trementon, Utah. “It does affect how I have to charge my customers for sure.”

For Selland, inflationary pressures show up in truck parts and labor costs for repairs.

“I mean, it just goes up every single day, just like an individual’s grocery bill goes up, so it’s a huge challenge,” Selland said.

Regardless of size, firms across the nation are bracing for a potential resurgence of inflation because of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff policies. Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that took effect Wednesday were immediately followed by retaliatory tariffs from America’s trading partners. Additional reciprocal tariffs on a wide range of goods are scheduled to begin as soon as April 2.

Martina Hoogland, owner and manager of Woudstra Meat Market in Orange City, Iowa, said it’s something she’s keeping an eye on.

“Being a dairy farmer’s daughter, it’s obviously something that’s being discussed. It doesn’t impact us directly but that being said, we just encourage our farmers, as the people who help them produce their stock, and we just try to support them the best we can,” Hoodland said.

For the time being, she said she’s taking the headwinds as they come.

“Optimism is what carries small businesses,” Hoogland said. “The economy is always going to ebb and flow. It’s difficult to be able to truly forecast but regardless, tomorrow’s gonna come, so if we can just cover our bases and continue on, then that’s what we aim to do.”

Have a news tip? Contact Ahtra Elnashar at aelnashar@sbgtv.com.