Orgill Hosts Congressional Committee on Ways and Means at Innovation Center

Orgill hosted members of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means at its Innovation Center in Collierville, Tennessee, on Tuesday where the committee held a field hearing to solicit insights and feedback on the impact of recent tax legislation under the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Orgill’s president and CEO Boyden Moore, was one of the business leaders called on to provide the committee with a statement and serve as a witness during the field hearing.

“Today, we are here to learn how the One Big Beautiful Bill is showing up in the lives of workers, families and small businesses across West Tennessee,” says House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08). “Today is about hearing what that relief looks like in real life. Our witnesses know better than anyone how tax policy shows up in a paycheck, a hiring decision or a new piece of equipment, how it supports working families to put food on the table and provide for their kids or how it gives employers more resources to provide more jobs and better benefits to their employees.”

Committee members in attendance included Congressman Ron Estes (Kansas), Congressman David Kustoff (Tennessee), Congresswoman Nicole Maliotakis (New York), Congresswoman Carol Miller (West Virginia), Congressman Nathaniel Moran (Texas) and Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne (Texas). 

Along with Moore, other witnesses who shared their stories of how the bill has impacted their businesses included i2M CEO and owner Alex Grover, Thomson Prestress president Wade Thomson and Patrick’s Neighborhood Bar and Patio owner Mike Miller.

In his opening remarks, Moore provided the committee a perspective of the legislation’s impact on the distributor and discussed how legislation that is favorable to small businesses can help independently owned hardware stores, home centers, lumberyards and farm supply stores better compete.

“Today, I hope to offer this committee a perspective not only from our company, but also on behalf of the thousands of independent hardware and home improvement businesses we serve across this country,” Moore told the committee.

“We all know that small independent businesses are critical to the health of our communities, but we also recognize that their interests can sometimes be overlooked because they don’t have the profile or the scale of their larger competitors,” Moore says. “When this committee presented us with an opportunity to speak not only on behalf of Orgill, but also to champion the interest of our customers, we were eager to do so.”

Some of the positive impacts that Moore says Orgill has seen from the recent legislation include the allowance of accelerated depreciation and immediate expense of software development cost, which generated significant tax benefits for the company.

“Those benefits didn’t just strengthen our cash flow; they supported continued investment in our business and provided us with greater opportunities to better serve our customers,” Moore says. 

Other witnesses shared examples of how they felt the act created powerful incentives for continued investment and innovation by allowing businesses to immediately deduct qualifying investments in equipment, technology, automation and software development.

In addition to the benefits the bill delivered for Orgill, Moore spent much of his time discussing the potential benefits the legislation can have on small businesses in general, including provisions that create opportunities to “strengthen their cash flow and reinvest in their businesses, from equipment and technology upgrades to pass-through tax deductions and workforce incentives.”

One specific example Moore shared was the expanded employer childcare tax credit, known as 45F, which gives businesses greater incentive to help employees access childcare, which Moore touted as a promising tool for attracting workers while supporting working families. He also shared that the new deduction for qualifying overtime compensation can have an immediate and meaningful financial impact on the people working in these businesses.

“These provisions provide tools that can help local businesses invest, grow and remain competitive,” Moore says. “There is no doubt that many of the provisions included in this legislation have been helpful to Orgill and our customers. At the same time, we all recognize there is more work to be done to support small businesses and ensure they can continue to survive, compete and succeed for generations to come. We take the fact that you’re sitting here today inside an innovation center dedicated to helping independent businesses become stronger and more successful as an encouraging sign.”

When asked what he is hearing from Orgill customers about how the bill’s provisions are helping them grow, invest and hire today, Moore shared two specific examples as making a particularly meaningful difference—the continuation and optimization of the 20% small business deduction and restoring bonus depreciation.

“All of our customers are looking for ways to grow their businesses and make them more efficient, whether that means investing in new product assortments, opening a new store, implementing new systems to help them better manage operations or hiring additional staff,” Moore says. “Anytime they can get some relief on their taxes, they take advantage of that relief to invest in these areas, which in turn helps them grow their businesses to better serve their communities.”

The interest deductibility provision in the bill also helps independent hardware stores that are carrying debt, such as working capital loans, floor plan financing for major equipment or seasonal lines or mortgages on their building, Moore says.

“Giving these independent business owners a better opportunity to invest and compete for the future only strengthens their business and the communities they serve,” he says. “They’re the ones who are sponsoring the local little league teams, the PTA, the high school sports. And we’re here to help them.”

Before adjourning the meeting, Chairman Smith shared his appreciation of Orgill’s hospitality at its Innovation Center and the witnesses for sharing their testimonies.

“This has been a great privilege to be here. All this was created by field hearings, where this committee traveled to more than 32 different states, listening to real people outside of Washington, D.C.,” Smith says. “That’s why we’re grateful to be here in Tennessee. This is exactly why you come out of Washington—to hear from real Americans.”