Skip Navigation

Small Business

Congressman Dingell knows how important it is to support Michigan’s small businesses, during good times and bad. From suppliers and manufacturers in the automotive industry to minority and veteran-owned businesses to high-tech firms to family-owned restaurants, small businesses are the engines of America’s economic growth.

Congressman Dingell supported initiatives in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) to help small businesses get access to capital as the credit market dried up and banks stopped lending. Here, you can find information on the programs put in place by the Recovery Act and extended through subsequent Acts of Congress.

Congressman Dingell will continue to work with his colleagues to provide small businesses with opportunities to grow, hire, and stay profitable. He is a primary sponsor of the Manufacturing Modernization and Diversification Act, introduced with his Michigan House colleagues, Congressman Sander Levin (MI-12) and Congressman Gary Peters (MI-09). This legislation will allow states to access a revolving loan fund at the U.S. Treasury to make it easier for private banks to loan money to small and medium-sized manufacturers.

Resources for Michigan Small Businesses:

Small Business Administration (SBA) in Michigan
Michigan Small Business Resource Guide – from SBA.gov
Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center
The Credit Union Small Business Financing Alliance - Michigan
Michigan Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC)
U.S. House Committee on Small Business

How Health Care Reform Affects Small Businesses in Michigan’s 15th District:

In 2011, Small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $50,000 are eligible to qualify for a small business tax credit of up to 50 percent of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 11,600 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits. See the IRS website for more information on this tax credit.

By 2014, 13,100 small businesses in Michigan’s 15th Congressional District will be able to purchase affordable coverage through Health Insurance Exchanges, or competitive marketplaces. For the first time, small businesses will be able to pool their buying power and have access to the same quality plans only available to large firms today. Through the Exchanges, small business owners and workers can do one-stop comparison shopping for an affordable plan that offers:

lower rates like what big businesses pay,
stable pricing from year to year,
lower administrative costs, and
choice of quality plans for employees.

Read Congressman Dingell's Detroit News op-ed on how health care reform has helped small businesses.

More legislation Enacted by the 111th Congress with Provisions for Small Businesses:

The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act – includes a payroll tax holiday for businesses that hire unemployed workers to create some 300,000 jobs; includes an income tax credit of $1,000 for businesses that retain these employees; tax cuts to spur new investment by small businesses to help them expand and hire more workers; extends Recovery Act provisions that double the amount small businesses can immediately write off their taxes for capital investments and purchases of new equipment made in 2010 from $125,000 to $250,000, helping small business make the investments they need to grow and hire more workers. (P.L. 111-147)

House-Passed Small Business Legislation During the 111th Congress:

The Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act – provides tax incentives for small businesses including, a 100% capital gains tax exclusion for stock in small businesses acquired through 2011; allowing taxpayers to treat venture-capital loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration as “at-risk” financing, which would increase the amount of deductions a business could take; temporarily increase, for 2010 and 2011, the deduction for small-business start-up expenses from $5,000 to $20,000, and raise the upper limit for deductible expenses from $50,000 to $75,000; and limit the penalty for failing to report on a tax return a “listed transaction” — that is, a transaction the Internal Revenue Service has formally identified as a scheme to avoid taxes.
The Jobs for Main Street Act –extends the fee elimination and loan guarantee Recovery Act provisions until September 30, 2010
The Job Creation through Entrepreneurship Act –overhauls and updates SBA’s entrepreneurship programs giving small businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups the needed tools and resources to thrive, create jobs and drive economic growth;
The Small Business Financing & Investment Act –reforms federal small business lending, making it easier and more affordable to get loans and access capital, and providing tools for veterans, women, and rural families; and
The SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2009 –modernizes the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs – putting a greater emphasis on commercialization to bring new technologies to the marketplace quicker.