BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Bob Carter and his team at The Garage in Pelham are enjoying their best year ever, though faced with several economic hurdles and challenges in 2023.

“I would say navigating the last two or three years was the most stressful part of my life. In terms of people looking to me for decisions, employees trying to navigate where they are now with inflation,” Carter said. “Buying groceries and gas and staggered wages and health insurance. All those things are real. They are real to us who own a business.”

The decisions Carter makes locally are greatly impacted by those made at the Capitol.

While giving a speech at the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, Alabama Senator Katie Britt called on President Biden to focus on easing the financial burden on average Americans. In doing so, Britt placed the blame on his policies for the struggles consumers face.

”The truth is, under President Biden, inflation has soared,” Britt said. “You look at the cost in the grocery store, whether it’s milk or eggs, or the gas you put in your car. Americans and Alabamians are paying more for the same goods and services every day, paying more than they did before he came into office.”

Carter is keeping a watchful eye on the economy, but keeping his nose to the grind and on things he can control. 

”The anxieties that I face, I just think about it during the day,” Carter said. “We do have to plan accordingly, but I try not to be too concerned with it. We don’t have control over it.”