How Can the Next U.S. President Help Small Business?
Since taking office, President Barack Obama has been a champion of small business. For example, the Obama administration to date has passed 18 tax cuts for small businesses. President Obama, in 2010, also signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act, which was the most significant piece of small business legislation in over a decade, as it provided critical resources to help small businesses continue to drive economic recovery and create jobs. Furthermore, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Obama administration expanded the SupplierPay initiative, a partnership with the private sector to strengthen small businesses by increasing their working capital so they can grow and hire more workers.
Small businesses are the engines of job creation in the United States, employing more than 56,000,000 individuals, and are commonly referred to as the “backbone” of our economy. Therefore, it is imperative that the next president of the United States pick up the torch from the Obama administration to help foster and sustain small business in America. But how can he or she, Republican or Democrat, do this?
First, the next president can make it easier to start a small business. This can be achieved by pushing states to make it faster and less expensive to start a small business, which takes longer in the U.S. than in certain other countries. This also means making it easier for potential small business owners to get a business license and loan.
The future U.S. president should also look to open new markets, provide tax relief for small businesses, incentivize health care benefits and improve hiring incentives. The next administration can further help small businesses by awarding them more government contracts. Fortunately, the federal government usually spends approximately $500 billion in contracts every year and the law requires that 23 percent of those dollars be awarded to small businesses. In this arena, however, small business owners can also help themselves by familiarizing themselves with the existing rules, understand what the government is buying, focus on agencies that are not meeting their small business goals and research existing and upcoming opportunities.
Blog by Dale Myers. the NALA's Head Writer.