August 13, 2009
Elizabeth Murphy
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549-1090
Dear Ms. Murphy:
This past April, my family and I opened Dust 2 Dust ATV track and trails. We wanted to provide a country setting for people who live in larger cities to ride ATVs and practice for motocross. We also have hopes of the business growing and supporting our family in the future. Eventually, we would like to give it to our children to take over. The recent proposal by the SEC to change shareholder proxy access and give the government greater access to businesses and their decisions would only hurt us and many other businesses. We are not likely to see all of our hopes become reality if this rule change goes into effect.
My husband and I have worked hard our whole lives. We started this business in an effort to provide a source of income that would also bring us a sense of excitement and a job that we enjoy. The area that we live in has recently expanded. What used to be a rural country setting, now serves as a getaway for many people from metropolitan areas. The main source of change was the expansion of a local casino. The casino is owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation. Within the past the past six years, it has gone from 100 employees running a bingo establishment, to our county’s largest employer with around 3000 current employees. This has been the fasting growing, highest thriving business in our area in many years. This company is run by its own government and has no ties to our country’s government. To me, this is a great way to see how businesses can succeed, if the government is not stepping in and making things difficult.
It would be nice to see the government focus on how they can help businesses strive to be financially successful. If changes are made to proxy access, it will only slow companies down and cause our economy to sink even further. Please give my business and so many others a chance, and do not allow these changes to happen.
Thank you,
Teresa Liddell