Small Business Majority has created a comprehensive state policy agenda to ensure entrepreneurship is at the center of a thriving andinclusive economy in Virginia. Virginia’s nearly 750,000 small businesses employ 1.5 million people, which amounts to nearly half of the private workforce, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Awesta Sarkash manages Small Business Majority’s policy and government affairs efforts in our nation's capital and the Mid-Atlantic region.
During almost a decade of service with the U.S. Military, Virginia-based lawyer Matt Banks witnessed several cases in which disabled veterans were denied disability compensation for injuries or conditions sustained during their military service because they did not have the medical evidence to show that their injuries or conditions were “service-connected.” This experience coupled with his desire to be an entrepreneur inspired Matt to start a small business devoted to helping his fellow veterans.
Policymakers at all levels, from town councils to the halls of Capitol Hill, emphasize the challenges of small businesses as a key talking point during political debates. But new opinion polling in four states—Illinois, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin—reveals small businesses feel their government officials don’t actually understand their challenges, and they support a wide array of policies to address their needs, some of which might come as a surprise to their elected officials.
The mission of the Global Business Development Center (GBDC), a program of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, is to be a leading resource and catalyst for commercial corridor revitalization, community integration and accelerating the growth of immigrant entrepreneurship by providing immigrant entrepreneurs with business support services to encourage the entrepreneurial development of new ventures and supporting existing small business ventures to reach the next level of business development.
The Virginia General Assembly boosted small businesses on May 30 when it voted to expand the state’s Medicaid program as part of a budget plan. Giving more people access to affordable healthcare will level the playing field for small firms, foster a workforce that is healthier and more productive and direct additional funds to the state’s economy.
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 Virginia small business owners had to lay off workers after they were negatively impacted by an extreme weather event.
Small businesses account for a significant share of Virginia’s economy. For every one large business in Virginia, there are 50 small businesses diligently working to reenergize the state’s economy. These entrepreneurs are doing everything they can to hire, grow and move their businesses forward. As part of these efforts, recent scientific opinion polling shows that Virginia’s entrepreneurs want pragmatic, innovative policies that help guide them into a competitive, modern clean energy economy.
Small business owners in Virginia 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 Jim Webb and Mark Warner would be a winner with small business owners back home.
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