National

The New Year is just around the corner, which means we’re mere days away from falling off the so-called fiscal cliff. This impending situation — created by a vast array of tax provisions set to expire January 1, at the same time that across-the-board spending cuts start to kick in — could spell disaster for the small business community and our slowly recovering economy.

Co-authored by Erica Schoder at R Street Institute and originally featured in The Huffington Post:

A look at the numbers makes it clear that America’s economy relies on small business. After all, they create a majority of new jobs and employ four out of six American workers. And it’s not often political leaders miss an opportunity to tout the importance of this critical constituency.

Across the United States, Main Street small businesses are working to rebuild our economy. These entrepreneurs, who have created two out of every three jobs over the past two decades, are doing all they can to hire, grow and move their businesses forward. One of the ways they’re doing it is through innovation—particularly in the clean energy arena.

John Arensmeyer

As Fairfax, Va., small business owner Mike Brey prepares to close the books on 2012, he’s also starting to make expansion plans. But he hasn’t sealed the deal on his two new Hobby Works stores yet — largely because of growing economic uncertainty as we race toward the edge of the “fiscal cliff.”

With the news Friday that the private sector added 171,000 jobs in October, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s evident our country is on its way to recovery. As the economy improves, it’s also clear small businesses are becoming more confident in their ability to rebound.