National

In this tough economy, small business owners struggle just to keep their doors open, let alone turn a profit and create jobs. Nevertheless, the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in small businesses, and they know that to thrive we must create new opportunities and change with the times, which explains why they favor raising fuel efficiency standards by huge margins—a step some people have wrongly described as a job killer.

Small Business Majority released a national survey of 619 small business owners in January 2011 to gauge how entrepreneurs view two critical components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: healthcare tax credits and insurance exchanges.

Small businesses are the backbone of America’s economy. Across the country, there are nearly 4.8 million businesses that employ 25 or fewer workers. They’re your local diner, the hardware store down the street, and the mechanic in your neighborhood. 

Congress included in the Affordable Care Act a significant new tax credit for small business owners who provide their workers with health insurance. Under this new tax credit, businesses that have fewer than 25 full-time workers and average wages of less than $50,000 are now eligible to receive a tax credit of up to 35% of the cost of the health insurance that they provide for their workers.

Although large employers have been expanding wellness programs in recent years, small businesses have lagged in this endeavor. Since small businesses employ nearly 50% of all private-sector workers, any comprehensive expansion of wellness and prevention efforts must include a role for this large swath of private sector employers.

Small Business Majority and Main Street Alliance commissioned opinion surveys of small business owners in 7 states across the country to learn their attitudes toward the clean energy bill being debated in Washington.

The poll showed that among small businesses, there is strong support for the clean energy and climate legislation currently being debated; small businesses believe that moving the country to clean energy is a smart way to restart the economy and help small businesses create jobs. A majority of those polled want their business to be part of a new clean energy economy.

Small businesses make up 99 percent of businesses in the United States and employ about 56 million of the nation’s private sector workers. New scientific polling shows small business hiring of lower-level employees is diverse and varies geographically, but more can be done to increase diversity in the hiring of upper-management employees.

Scientific opinion polling shows small business owners support implementing laws that would allow employees to earn paid sick days to use when they or an immediate family member is sick, and the majority also offer a variety of benefits to their employees. 

Scientific opinion polling found the majority of millennials who own a business or would like to start one at some point say student debt and a lack of retirement savings plan are barriers to entrepreneurship.

In every aspect of building a thriving society and economy—from addressing long-term unemployment to providing high quality jobs—American entrepreneurship represents a pathway to success, particularly among young Americans who struggled to get their foot in the door during the Great Recession...

The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision any day in the case against the Affordable Care Act, filed by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and state attorneys general. The polling of 800 small business owners in eight states (Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Texas and Virginia) found 50% of small business owners want the healthcare reform law upheld—either as is or with minor changes—while only one-third want the Supreme Court to overturn it.