By Maria Contreras-Sweet
Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
With apologies to baseball and your mother’s apple pie, nothing is more American than National Small Business Week.
The president’s State of the Union speech last night touched on many of small business owners’ key concerns, particularly increasing consumer demand by strengthening the middle class, closing corporate tax loopholes and ensuring open and fair Internet access for all. What’s more, the president highlighted the importance of small businesses and the middle class—the engine of small business prosperity.
There are many complex policy issues that have a major impact on the small business community. Each week, we’re going to help break one of those issues down so small business owners can stay in the know and remain aware of their stake in these national issues. This week’s Issue Q&A is on access to capital.
Every year around this time, we think about what the year ahead might bring and how we can make it better than the last. To make 2014 a success, we must find ways to bolster our still-recovering economy. Supporting the middle class is one way to do that. A recent study indicates income inequality is at the highest it’s been in 100 years, with the top 10 percent of earners taking more than half the country’s total income in 2012.
Rhett Buttle
Ben Geyerhahn
They’ve been in the spotlight for months, and the attention small businesses got during the first presidential debate sent them into the stratosphere in terms of media coverage. So let’s try to answer the question a lot of people are asking: who are these small business owners everyone’s talking about?
Rhett Buttle
Original statement issued on July 11, 2012:
The president announced today that he will instate a host of executive actions to help small businesses. The actions address key areas of concern for small businesses, including the lack of available credit, which plagues countless entrepreneurs trying to grow their businesses and create jobs.
John Arensmeyer
Rhett Buttle
Original statement issued on April 5, 2012:
The bipartisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, signed into law by President Obama today, will help address one of small business owners’ biggest problems: a lack of access to capital.
Rhett Buttle
Original statement issued on March 22, 2012:
The bipartisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which passed the Senate today after being previously approved by the House of Representatives, will help address one of small business owners biggest problems: a lack of access to credit. Recent opinion polling we released found 90 percent of small businesses say the availability of credit is a problem.
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