Op-Eds

Every Small Business Started As An Idea
By Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH)
May 6, 2016

Every small business started as an idea.

Each year, National Small Business Week gives us the perfect opportunity to celebrate the invaluable contribution America’s small businesses make to our economy and the ideas that made them possible.

It is also an opportunity for Washington to refocus its efforts to help them thrive so they can do what they do best: create jobs and help grow our economy.

As our Committee noted in a bipartisan House resolution we introduced recognizing this week as National Small Business Week, the most recent statistics show there is nothing “small” about small business in America.

For instance, many people are surprised to learn that 99.7 percent of businesses with employees are small businesses and that 98 percent of American exporters are small businesses.

Sixty three percent of new jobs created are by small businesses and 46 percent of private sector output is produced by these engines of economic growth.

This huge economic footprint means that nearly everything Washington does - from taxes to regulations to health care to international trade - affects millions of families because they impact our small businesses.

As Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, I hear from small business owners from across the country about how they feel hamstrung by excessive regulation and complicated taxes.

This Congress, we’ve made some meaningful progress by easing some of these burdens that will help our small businesses prosper.

We’ve begun the hard work of getting the tax code to work for small businesses instead of against them. Specifically, we have made both the research and development tax credit and Section 179 expensing permanent. We also expanded bonus depreciation through 2019.

To help lower energy costs for small businesses and individuals, we also ended the decades-old ban on crude oil exports. We have also opened new doors for economic development by strengthening local Certified Development Companies (CDCs) and the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.

To honor our American heroes and encourage veteran entrepreneurship, we waived upfront 7(a) loan fees for veterans and their spouses who want to start a small business. This bipartisan law helps veterans build on the leadership skills they have learned while serving our country which translates well into success as entrepreneurs.

We’ve also passed The Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act, to help startup companies access early capital through “angel investors” by a vote of 325 to 89.  

When entrepreneurs look for ways to get their business off the ground and keep it off the ground, they look at every avenue available to them. I firmly believe that Congress must take the same approach as we look for new ways to help them succeed.

There is no effort too big or too small when it comes to empowering America’s entrepreneurs. Their efforts exemplify the American dream each and every day. 

As Walt Disney, himself a great entrepreneur, once remarked, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

We must do all we can to encourage America’s innovators who dare to dream and put their shoulders to the wheel to turn those dreams into realities.

I urge all Americans to support their local small businesses this #SmallBizWeek2016. 

Congressman Steve Chabot represents Ohio's First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives where he is chairman of the House Committee on Small Business. He is also a senior member of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. You can follow the committee on Twitter @HouseSmallBiz.