National Small Business Week is Here! | The White House

National Small Business Week is Here! | The White House

Posted by Karen Mills on May 16, 2011 at 06:00 AM EDT

Happy National Small Business Week to more than 27 million small businesses, their employees, and all Americans! You can read the President’s proclamation here.

The facts are clear: small businesses create about two out of every three jobs in the U.S. each year, and roughly half of working Americans either own or work for a small business.

Today, we released a report that details the many things the Administration has done over the past two years to help small businesses do what they do best: create jobs. It’s called The Small Business Agenda: Growing America’s Small Businesses to Win the Future.

There are seven areas where we’ve made accomplishments, including:

• 17 tax breaks for small businesses through the Recovery Act, the Small Business Jobs Act and other laws
• $53 billion in SBA lending support for 113,000 small businesses at a time when traditional lending was frozen
• Nearly $100 billion in federal contracting dollars annually going to small businesses, with a new tool to help women-owned firms
• Support for small businesses to export their products and help meet the National Export Initiative’s goal to double exports in coming years
• Free and low-cost counseling to more than 2 million entrepreneurs and small business owners
• Targeted mentoring and growth capital for high-growth small businesses – the biggest job creators – through new efforts like Startup America
• More stability and protection in financial markets as well as work to reduce regulatory barriers and costs

But our job is not done.

For example, we need to engage young entrepreneurs who are working to build the next generation of great American companies. That’s why, Tuesday night at 6:30 pm EST, the White House’s Kalpen Modi and SBA’s Deputy Administrator, Marie Johns, are co-hosting a Youth Entrepreneur Summit in New York City. Watch the livestream here.

And don’t forget: Starting Wednesday, you can also watch livestreams of National Small Business Week events and forums happening in Washington, D.C. Take a look at my earlier blog post to see which ones you might be interested in.

As the President said recently, “When it comes to our economy, it’s our small businesses that pack the biggest punch.” Thank you for taking time this week to celebrate small businesses in your community and across the nation.

Karen Mills is the Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

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