Blogs

Most 25 year olds are more worried about paying off their student loans than launching a business to help their neighborhood. Not Kateri Gutierrez.

“Being involved in the community and teaching people about civic engagement is a labor of love for me,” said Kateri.

Jeff Rose and Rosina Rubin’s limo company keeps New York’s rich and famous from being late and angry. 

“We are the limo service you can swear by, not at,” said Rosina.

When you talk to business owners about what make their business successful, they often say their employees are their number one assets. That’s certainly true for the Columbus small business I co-own with my father, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing. We want to keep our employees happy, and for us, part of how we do that is by offering paid family and medical leave via a short-term disability policy. But paid leave isn’t just about treating our employees well – it’s also boosted our bottom line by increasing employee retention and morale.

Entrepreneur Clifton Broumand has an advanced degree in trial and error, and if you ask him he’ll tell you his studies were not cheap.

“I had a very expensive education – instead of getting an MBA at a university, I got a Ph.D. in making mistakes and learning from them,” said Clifton.

Ramona Thomas, a trained mathematician with a Ph.D. in education, gave up an 18-year career and position as vice president of a venture philanthropy firm to strike out on her own and open what is now Chicago’s premiere artisan chocolate boutique—My Chocolate Soul.

Sweet Action Ice Cream is a socially conscious Denver ice cream shop that serves unique sweet treats and has an even sweeter mission of giving a helping hand to the community.

Originally from New York City, Sweet Action Ice Cream owners Chia and Sam Basinger are no strangers to the foodservice industry. Both have backgrounds working in restaurants, and when they decided to make their move to Denver in 2007, those experiences helped them to build what is now today a very successful ice cream shop.

When Chris Petrella found himself in the dark, he had a bright idea.

While camping with his son in 2012 he realized he didn’t have a way to power his electronics. After that trip, Petrella went to a camping supplies store and inquired about such a device.   

“I sketched it out for him [the store clerk]” and he told me it didn’t exist. I did a Google search, and it wasn’t found,” Petrella said. “I thought to myself this is so bizarre because I can picture this thing clearly in my mind.”

It’s difficult for most small businesses to obtain a loan. Just ask Margo Strotter, owner of Ain’t She Sweet Cafe, which now has two locations–one in Bronzeville and one in Beverly. 

Entrepreneurs are a vital component of a thriving American economy. Indeed, small businesses represent 99% of all employer firms and account for half of our nation’s jobs and economic output, and their creativity spurs innovation in all sectors of the economy. That’s why it’s important to take time to appreciate our country’s entrepreneurs during November, which is National Entrepreneurship Month.

In today’s political climate, a lot of political leaders talk about wanting to help small business, but oftentimes don’t take their actual comments and concerns into consideration when working on key policy issues, like tax reform and healthcare. That’s why we tackled this challenge head on at Small Business Majority’s 2017 Policy Forum, which brought 50 small business leaders from around the country to our nation’s capital to discuss how to promote policy reforms that will help small businesses thrive.