Brown follows the signs

WESTBORO — 

On a campaign stop at a Route 9 company yesterday, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown painted his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, as pro-tax and anti-business and lumped her in with President Barack Obama’s position that successful businesses were not built by their owners alone, but with the help of the government and others.

Mr. Brown’s campaign put the R.G. Shakour Beauty Supply and Equipment Inc. headquarters on his small business tour because of the prominent sign the firm’s owner set up in front of his building last week: “Govt. Did Not Build this Nation. Honest People Did.”

Mr. Brown said the president’s conviction was “insulting” to business owners.

“It’s the individual job creators who are responsible for their businesses’ success,” Mr. Brown said. “The majority of people, like the owners of this shop, did it on their own.

“Professor Warren’s position is build it and the government will take big chunks of it,” he said, referring to the Democratic candidate, a Harvard Law School professor.

Jon Shakour, owner of the 87-year-old family business, which has 300 employees, said the company has never received a government grant or loan.

“We did it with blood, sweat and tears,” he said.

However, two of the other companies Mr. Brown stopped at yesterday, including Worcester-based Polar Beverages (Mr. Brown visited Polar’s Auburn facility), have benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars in government contracts and tax credits over the years. The other firm, C.N. Wood Company of Woburn, sells construction equipment.

Mr. Brown said he saw no contradiction between getting government contracts or grants and entrepreneurial independence, saying the companies competed for government work and benefits on an equal footing with other companies.

The senator also lashed out at Ms. Warren for being part of the reason for the dramatic escalation in higher education costs.

“Professor Warren is making nearly $400,000 for teaching one class,” he said. “It’s those fat salaries that are contributing to the high cost of education.”

Responding to a new Warren TV ad that depicts the Democratic candidate as the “founding mother” of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Mr. Brown noted that he cast the deciding vote to

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