Roundtable to Explore Obstacles Facing Young OH Entrepreneurs; Ideas will be Taken to D.C. Lawmakers at Small Business Leadership Summit

Columbus, Ohio—Designing Local, the Short North Alliance and the Columbus Young Professionals Club, in conjunction with small business organization Small Business Majority, will host a roundtable discussion on Friday, May 8, 2015, to discuss obstacles facing young entrepreneurs and identify policy recommendations to share with lawmakers in Washington D.C. at Small Business Majority's Small Business Leadership Summit May 11-13, 2015.

The roundtable will focus on the adversity and the unique complexities facing young entrepreneurs today and is being held in conjunction with Columbus StartUp Week, a five-day conference to build momentum and opportunity around entrepreneurship. Based on the roundtable discussion, local business owners Josh Lapp and Amanda Golden of Designing Local will take the information from this event and share it with policymakers at Small Business Majority's upcoming Small Business Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. Insight from local small business owners will help Lapp and Golden better educate policymakers on the unique challenges young entrepreneurs face, which will better inform policies they're working on that impact small firms.

"I'm excited to get the opportunity to discuss this important issue with my fellow small business owners and get their opinions on ways to help young entrepreneurs open up shop," said Josh Lapp, Co-Founder and Principal of Designing Local. "The fact that this event is just a few days before Small Business Majority's Leadership Summit means we have a real chance of having our issues and concerns heard before policymakers and members of the Obama Administration, helping them understand the hurdles young entrepreneurs face and how policies to help these entrepreneurs will boost jobs and the economy."

The event will feature Small Business Majority's Ohio Outreach Manager, Michaela Hahn Burriss, who will provide information on how youth unemployment affects the economy, how policies to help young entrepreneurs will benefit them and their communities, and discuss the various obstacles facing young entrepreneurs, including access to capital and age discrimination.

"Nearly five years have passed since the end of the Great Recession, yet 6 million young Americans are unemployed—a staggering number that negatively affects economic demand," said Hahn Burriss. "Helping young people branch out on their own and start small businesses will reduce this unemployment, boost the economy by putting more people back to work, and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit of today's youth. It's time policymakers break down the barriers keeping our young job creators from starting businesses and getting back to work."

The event will take place on Friday, May 8, 2015 at 11:30am (EDT). The event will be located at: The Roosevelt Coffeehouse, 300 E. Long St., Columbus, OH 43215.

Small business owners can register for the event at:

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For more information, please contact Michaela Hahn Burriss at (440) 281-2346 or [email protected]