Extreme weather events have been front-page news lately, especially with the U.S. experiencing record storms across much of the country and devastating droughts in the West. Research shows small businesses are especially susceptible to financial ruin after an extreme weather event. 

It’s not surprising then that Small Business Majority's polling found nearly 1 in 5 North Carolina small business owners had to lay off workers after they were negatively impacted by an extreme weather event.

Small business owners nationwide are doing all they can to strengthen their businesses and put the Great Recession’s effects behind them. Now more than ever, it’s critical they have the help of smart employment laws allowing them to attract and retain the best talent. National scientific opinion polling shows the vast majority of small business owners believe we’re long overdue for federal and state policies protecting all workers from discrimination, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Small business owners in North Carolina strongly believe the country needs to move toward clean energy and that new energy policies will transform the economy and help them create new jobs. They support comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation currently being discussed in the US Senate. Support for a climate and energy bill from Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan would be a winner with small business owners back home.

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 Business Majority released a national scientific opinion poll—including oversamples in five states—that found small business owners oppose denying services to LGBT customers based on religious beliefs, rights to free speech or freedom of artistic expression. Further, the poll showed that a majority of small businesses support enacting federal and state laws to protect LGBT individuals from discrimination in places of public accommodation. Small business owners feel that nondiscrimination policies are good for their state’s business climate and their own business’s bottom line.