Small Business: 70 Million Strong and Voting

Small Business California Partners with NSBA to Kick-off Outreach Campaign

Small Business: 70 Million Strong…And Voting

Washington, D.C. — More than one in two people in the U.S. private workforce work for or run a small business, according to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy and U.S. Census Bureau. To underscore the significance of this number, the National Small Business Association (NSBA) today unveiled a broad campaign, “Small Business: 70 Million Strong…And Voting” to educate lawmakers, candidates and the public on the importance of small business.

“For the past 15 years, small business has created on average 93.5 percent of all net new jobs and comprised 99 percent of all employers, yet continues to be an afterthought for many lawmakers and candidates,” stated NSBA President Todd McCracken. “This campaign will help us change how people think and talk about small business.”

NSBA is working closely with affiliate members across the country to get the word out about the significance of the overall small-business community. The campaign aims to address the lack of small-business focus in the 2008 election season by urging every small-business owner and employee in the U.S. to speak out as part of the overall small-business community.

The importance of small business isn’t disputed. In fact, in the 2007 Harris Interactive Poll, Confidence in Leaders of Major Institutions, 54 percent of adults expressed a great deal of confidence in small-business owners—the only group in the past three years to garner such a high rating from a majority of people. The target for NSBA is to get people talking about, and recognizing, how truly broad and significant the small-business community is to the U.S. economy.

“Beyond the very positive attitudes people have about small business, we want to drive home the point that small business comprises 33 percent of the voting population in the U.S.,” stated Scott Hauge. “We want to let people know that the small-business community is a force to be reckoned with.”

Since 1937, NSBA has advocated on behalf of America’s entrepreneurs. Reaching more than 150,000 small businesses, NSBA is proud to be the first national small-business advocacy organization in the United States.


Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California