Small Business

Small Business

From the woman who runs a business out of her home to the firm with 200 employees that designs high-tech products for the Defense Department, our small businesses serve vastly divergent markets and have differing needs.  Historically, small businesses help bring economies out of recession, are highly motivated to be innovative, and create a significant percentage of new jobs. 

Steps I’ve taken to help small businesses thrive:

Small Business Innovation Research

I recognize how important it is for our state and our nation to remain competitive in the global economy.  Massachusetts is one of the top research and development economies in the world, ranking first among states for patents, R&D, and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards per capita, according to the Journal of New England Technology. 

In the House of Representatives, I have led the fight to protect the SBIR program, which provides small firms with early-stage R&D funding.  In December 2011, Congress reauthorized this critical job creation tool for Massachusetts small businesses.  The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has been described as the most successful federal government research and development program, and has been critical to creating jobs and fostering innovation in Massachusetts and across the country.  The program’s success hinges on its ability to provide small firms with small-dollar awards to give them a jumpstart when private financing is unavailable. 

Because of how innovative and highly competitive our companies are, Massachusetts firms have received the second highest total number of awards and the second highest total dollar amount awarded.  Per capita, it has by far the highest total in both categories.  In Massachusetts, SBIR has provided critical R&D funding for dozens of firms and has enabled inventors and engineers to start new businesses and deliver needed products to the market.  Of all the SBIR awards nationally, more than 12% have been awarded to Bay State businesses totaling approximately $283 million in the last year alone.

However, some members of Congress were advocating changes to the program that would have altered its original intent and put Massachusetts small businesses at a disadvantage.  In addition, those changes would have also resulted in the federal government adopting ‘second best’ technology because of arbitrary quotas. 

Since coming to Congress, I have worked to prevent these proposed changes to the program from going into effect and instead sought an extension of the program that preserved its original intent of supporting small and emerging businesses.   Recently we were successful in including a long term extension of the program in the defense policy bill.  This 6-year reauthorization of the program retains its proper focus on true small businesses and provides the certainty our small businesses need to plan ahead, make investments, and expand their workforce.

You can read more here about the impact the SBIR program has in the Fifth District and Massachusetts.

Make It In America

I am a strong supporter of the Make it in America Agenda which Democrats in the House of Representatives have put forward to provide tax incentives, workforce training, and other support for the production of goods and services in the United States as opposed to overseas. 

For too long, multinational corporations have fueled the idea that we don’t need to make things here in America anymore, that we can invent things here but let our global competitors make them overseas.  That idea ignores the very real dangers to our economy and our well-being of simply ceding manufacturing to other countries.  The success of companies like Polartec and New Balence demonstrates that manufacturing jobs can stay here, but we need to pursue policies at the federal level that support their efforts.

I recently hosted a Make it in America Town Hall in Lawrence with local employers, and workforce development specialists to discuss ways to grow the domestic manufacturing base and promote policies that keep jobs in the United States rather than having them sent overseas.  Approximately 75 people attended the town hall meeting including manufacturers, interested citizens, and even a gentleman who wanted to start a small manufacturing business, but needed help getting it off the ground.

You can click here to read more about what was discussed at this important town hall meeting.

Helping small business owners access their deposited funds faster

I introduced the Faster Access and Shorter Transaction Time for Checks Act (the“FASTT Checks Act”) to guarantee that consumers and small business owners will be able to access their deposited funds sooner.  Under current law, a bank can place a 7 business-day hold on checks over $5,000 despite the fact that most checks are now processed electronically, giving banks almost instant access to your funds but delaying when you can access them.  Under my bill, hold times for electronically-cleared checks are shortened to 2 business days (including Saturdays) unless the bank has reason to suspect fraud or the account is repeatedly overdrawn.  (For more information and comments from Billerica resident Bruce Macdonald and consumer advocate Consumers Union, see my release. The FASTT Checks Act is endorsed by the National Small Business Association for its ability to help small business owners access their funds faster.)

Small business tax relief

Hearing directly from a constituent led me to introduce bipartisan legislation to provide immediate tax relief to small business owners who were forced to withdraw from their retirement savings during the recession to keep their businesses going.  Under my bill, small business owners can treat their withdrawal as a loan, letting them file an amended tax return to receive tax relief on any income taxes and early-withdrawal penalties they paid.  This legislation also creates an incentive for small business owners to restore the savings accounts they will need for retirement.

Eliminating administrative burdens

In response to concerns from Fifth District small business owners about the administrative burdens that a new provision requiring them to file additional 1099 forms with IRS would pose on them, I was one of the first members of my party to push for its repeal and this measure is now law. 

Keeping the focus on small business

Too many big corporations have unfairly taken advantage of federal programs targeted at small businesses. That is why I have cosponsored legislation to close loopholes that allow big firms to qualify as small businesses when applying for government contracts.

Health care tax credits for small business

I supported new tax credits to help small businesses afford health coverage. An estimated 3.6 million small businesses will qualify in 2010. The credits (for up to 35 percent of an employer's contribution to health care in 2010-2013 and up to 50 percent in 2014) will provide an estimated $40 billion in assistance to small businesses over 10 years to make coverage affordable.  To learn more about how health care reform will affect your business, please see my health care reform page.