National

What happens when you put more than 100 small business owners in a room together to discuss the biggest issues facing small businesses today? That’s what we found out during our inaugural Small Business Leadership Summit, a three-day event of education, collaboration and action that took place May 11-13 in our nation’s capitol.

Small Business Majority CEO, John Arensmeyer

By all accounts, our economy is continuing on a path of recovery in the aftermath of the recession. And while this should signal good times ahead for our nation’s small businesses, entrepreneurs are still struggling to get what they need most to grow and thrive: access to traditional loans and more reasonable terms on alternative lending.

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.

As we head into our 10-year anniversary, Small Business Majority is blazing trails like never before, and our team’s hard work is paying off in spades.

There could be bad news on the horizon for small business owners looking forward to joining the new small business marketplaces next year: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is considering yet another delay in expanding the small group market and the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) to small firms with 50-99 employees. This would be disappointing news because expanding the small group market next year will increase the size of the insurance pool, which benefits the healthcare system overall.

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.

As we enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, here at Small Business Majority we’re celebrating a very successful 2014. And with a new Congress coming to Washington in January, we’re looking forward to continuing our efforts on the small business front in 2015.  See below for some of our biggest accomplishments from the past year.

In less than three years, the Mid-America Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has skyrocketed from the ground up to become an influential player in the Midwestern LGBT business community.

Founded by Dan Nilsen, CEO of Bishop-McCann, the Mid-America GLCC arose to fill “a big void in the Midwest for a gay and lesbian chamber of commerce,” said Michael Linctecum, executive director of the chamber.

Season greetings from Small Business Majority!

With the days getting shorter and the temperature getting colder, you should be shopping smaller.

As the holiday season kicks into full gear, Small Business Majority is extending our “Confessions of a Small Biz Shopaholic” campaign to encourage consumers to shop small this holiday season and to drum up business for brick and mortar shops nationwide.