National

Small business owners across the country are working to rebuild our economy. These entrepreneurs, the engine of job creation, are doing everything they can to hire, grow and move their businesses forward. As part of these efforts, scientific opinion polling in six states— Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia—shows that America’s entrepreneurs want pragmatic, innovative policies that help guide them into a competitive, modern clean energy economy.

In the aftermath of the recession, small business owners are doing all they can to shift our economy back into gear. But many of them are still idling, if not completely stalled. To thrive and reach their full potential, small businesses need a more level economic playing field with large businesses—one that makes them better able to create jobs. Small business owners know robust economic policies aimed at leveling the playing field would strengthen their bottom lines and enhance their capacity to foster widespread economic growth.

On Jan. 21, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its Citizens United decision that corporations are free to spend unlimited sums of money in elections. According to opinion polling released by the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority, two-thirds of small business owners see this decision as bad for small business. The poll also shows small business owners overwhelmingly believe corporations have been given too much freedom to spend money that directly influences political campaigns.

Introduction 

America’s small business owners are doing all they can to outlast the condition of today’s economy. These hardworking employers know they need the right kind of help if they are to thrive. That’s why they believe immediate action is necessary to form bold clean energy policies that will prompt innovation, and in effect, stimulate small business and the economy.

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.