Obama and my small business

• Revenue: $1.6 million
• Number of employees: 15
• Location: Cincinnati
• Website: batd.com

James Siderits, part-owner of family business Blue Ash Tool & Die Co., said he'll be keeping a close eye on what happens to the defense budget in 2013.

"Even though we do significant amount of work for the military, we're still a small fish in the supply chain," said Siderits. "If there are fewer contracts overall from here on, then there will be less work trickling down to us."

The company also does work for big commercial aerospace companies. "The president is facing an impending fiscal cliff," said Siderits. And if mandatory spending cuts happen, "we are very worried that it may also force is to make tough business decisions in 2013," he added.

The shortage of skilled manufacturing workers is another issue affecting his business, and he hopes Obama will continue to champion technical training.

"The skilled trades are a dying form in the United States. That's hurting us. We need to hire two machinists and we can't even find candidates with the most basic level of knowledge," he said.

Health care is also on his mind, but not an immediate concern. "We have 15 employees right now. Our business is growing well," he said. "Our goal is to add more employees but the 50-worker mandate gives us some pause."

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