National Small Business Week

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I rise today as chair of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship to recognize National Small Business Week and honor the more than 33 million small businesses that drive the American economy.

Across the Nation, small businesses contribute to about half of our economy's GDP and create about two-thirds of new jobs. They even produce 16 times more patents than large businesses. There is no American economy without the small business economy.

In my home State of New Hampshire, 99 percent of our businesses are small businesses. They employ about 50 percent of Granite Staters and are led by some of the most determined and creative individuals I know.

Take, for example, Counseling Associates, a women-owned small business filling the mental health services gap in the Granite State. Susan Borchert and Betsy Harrison, cofounders of Counseling Associates, received the 2024 New Hampshire Small Business Persons of the Year award. Congratulations, Susan and Betsy.

After years of working together and motivated by a shared passion for expanding affordable healthcare, Susan and Betsy leveraged their combined 40 years of clinical experience and founded Counseling Associates in 2004.

Thanks to support from the Small Business Administration and years of consultation from New Hampshire's Small Business Development Center, they have expanded to employ over 85 professionals in five different locations. Like Counseling Associates, small businesses across the country depend on the resources provided by the Small Business Administration.

Congress must continue to extend these resources to more parts of the country. We must ensure entrepreneurs in every community, including those in rural areas, have a fair shot at starting and growing their small businesses, and we must continue to support an environment where small businesses can succeed. This means addressing the drivers of inflation, providing affordable housing, developing the workforce we need, and dealing with America's childcare crisis.

Now more than ever, expanding small business services is critical to keep up with the historic rise in entrepreneurship. An unprecedented 17 million new business applications have been filed under the Biden- Harris administration, including substantial growth in women-owned small businesses.

To all of America's small businesses, whatever your calling to entrepreneurship may be: Thank you for all you do, this week and every week.

You make America strong. You ensure our communities stay vibrant, and it is because of you that we will strengthen our local economies and continue to move America forward.

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