SMALL BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNCIL

Advocacy and Outreach: SBE Council's advocacy work focused on residual issues in the aftermath of Covid-19 - such as inflation, supply chain challenges, labor market shortages, various tax issues, the need for policy stability - and the growth and wider use of innovative technologies and platforms being used by small businesses and startups and the need for government initiatives that encourage adoption and the innovation that brings new tools to market at lower costs. SBE Council continued to monitor and comment on significant regulatory initiatives within the federal agencies - particularly the Department of Labor (DOL), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - to ensure the regulatory process was being followed by agencies and the impacts on small businesses were properly considered. SBE Council distributed 23 letters to Congress, which addressed legislation relating to capital access and affordability, small business taxes, government spending and the potential inflationary effects, IP protections, health care costs and choice, regulatory reform, workforce issues, quality broadband access, and U.S. competitiveness and innovation. On budget issues, SBE Council advocated against tax increases and excessive spending that would fuel inflationary pressures. SBE Council supported measures to maintain key tax incentives such as immediate R&D expensing, bonus depreciation and other pieces of the 2017 tax relief package that have supported small business and will expire in 2025. Our team testified three times before Congress on health care reform and workforce issues shortages. We provided testimony for the record four times on issues related to tax complexity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Regulatory comments and engagement focused on rulemakings that would negatively impact the startup ecosystem, privacy policy, workplace regulation, and government contracting. We weighed in on significant rulemakings (five comments filed), for example, at the NLRB on the expanded "joint employer" standard, DOL's independent contractor proposal, potential unintended consequences of the Federal Communication Commission's "digital discrimination" rules, the FTC's total ban on noncompete agreements, the importance of a National Spectrum Strategy, and various rulemakings and guidance that would harm IP rights, innovation and startups. SBE Council engaged small business owners and the policy community by authoring and distributing 68 policy briefs on the aforementioned issues, keeping our list of over 212,000 entrepreneurs and partners up-to-date via our Small Business Insider e-news (65 published and distributed), the Growth Without Barriers podcast (5 recorded), and 35 in-person briefings and roundtables on Capitol Hill and with entrepreneurs as the U.S. Capitol and U.S. House buildings were re-opened to the public in January 2023.

Research & Analysis: SBE Council produces research reports, small business surveys, issue briefs and analysis on issues that help elected officials, policy leaders in government, entrepreneurs, the media and general public better understand how entrepreneurship and small businesses are vital to the economy and how small firms and business creation are impacted by specific policies that are being proposed or advanced. In addition to the regular daily content authored by SBE Council's economic team (98 briefs were produced for the year), various special reports and research included a range of surveys to better understand how small businesses were navigating stubborn effects of the post-Covid economy and dealing with challenging issues like inflation and workforce shortages. Our quarterly "Small Business Checkup Survey" produced important data and information, which played a role in helping lawmakers, policy leaders and the media better understand small business priorities, how they were responding to challenges and market conditions, new tech tools they were using, and where they stand on key issues. SBE Council continued to report on the growth of new business applications and small business adoption to tech. One key report - "Emerging Technology, Innovation and Small Business" reported on their use and views of artificial intelligence, AR/VR and "metaverse" technologies, cloud computing, e-payments systems and more. Our daily and weekly economic briefs and blog posts helped both small business owners and members of Congress better understand the data and trends in regular economic reports - such as the monthly jobs report, and monthly trade, manufacturing, consumer credit, productivity, consumer confidence, the Federal Reserve Beige Book and durable goods reports.