Blogs

In Colorado, Main Street businesses are working to rebuild the state’s economy. These entrepreneurs are doing all they can to hire, grow and move their businesses forward. For their wellbeing and that of Colorado’s economic future, it’s important they have ample opportunity to innovate—particularly in the energy efficiency arena, as indicated by a report released Wednesday.

Michigan small business owners overwhelmingly support increasing the state’s renewable energy standard to 25 percent by 2025, according to opinion polling released by Small Business Majority. Nearly eight in 10 (79 percent) Michigan small businesses support setting standards that require utilities to meet a certain percentage of energy demand through renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and bio-fuels (for example, requiring a 25 percent target in renewable fuels by 2025).

John Arensmeyer

Lawmakers passed up a golden opportunity recently to shake the recession’s effects and put American small businesses back on the hiring track. Congress has a lot more work to do this summer if they plan to support entrepreneurship. Small businesses across the nation are poised for growth, and now is the time to facilitate their expansion by passing smart jobs legislation and helping them access capital.

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.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling today upholding the Affordable Care Act is a victory for small business owners who have struggled with the excessively high cost of health insurance for decades. The Affordable Care Act tackles small business owners’ top priorities when it comes to healthcare reform: cost and accessibility. The law will significantly rein in costs while providing more health coverage options for entrepreneurs.

States across the country are working to develop Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchanges—online marketplaces where small businesses can purchase health insurance. An opinion survey released today provides important new insights into what small businesses in California are looking for from the state exchanges being created under the Affordable Care Act. Topping the list are allowing employees to choose among multiple insurance carriers and more disease prevention and wellness programs. The survey also found interest in the SHOP exchange is high, and awareness among owners of small business tax credits is low.

Ohio small business owners strongly support government investments in clean energy and believe such investments have an important role in creating jobs and boosting the economy, according to an opinion poll released today by Small Business Majority.

Our nation’s smallest businesses—those with 1-49 employees—continue to outpace large businesses in the race to put America back to work. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees created more than half of all new jobs last month, and, from April to May, they boosted the actual number of jobs they generated by 16 percent, according to data released Thursday by Automatic Data Processing, Inc (ADP). Small businesses overall accounted for more than 93 percent of all new jobs last month, while large businesses created just 6.8 percent of new jobs.