Senators Celebrate National Small Business Week

Well, now that it’s Tuesday, most of the written recognitions of National Small Business Week – which is indeed going on at the moment – have rolled in.  And one composed by Senators Mary Landrieu and Olympia J. Snowe is particularly interesting.

 Senator Mary Landrieu

The pair – who both sit on the United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship – started their statement by acknowledging, "Our economy depends on the health of our 27 million small businesses. . . .  Small firms pump almost a trillion dollars into the economy each year, create two-thirds of our nation’s new jobs annually and account for more than half of America’s work force."

Then they went into some specifics regarding how politicians have been trying to help.  The elimination of fees on SBA-backed loans got mentioned, along with increasing the guarantee on government-backed loans.  Then there was talk of $50 million in microloans and management assistance, plus a bit of aid for the surety bond program.

And finally, the senators got around to talking about what else might come in the future.  "We are both committed to working together to provide entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to lead us out of this recession," they stated.  "We are working with the administration to reauthorize the Small Business Administration and its critical programs.  These initiatives assist entrepreneurs in starting and growing businesses and are responsible for creating more than 1.5 million jobs last year."

It’s hard not to notice that the "future" section is the most vague, but small business owners may still find it reassuring to receive a little more attention from these leading lawmakers.