I’ve recently been doing some work with the American Sustainable Business Council on a number of initiatives and was fortunate to help out with the draft and publication of this report.
It was created in response to the Covid19 crisis, the impact of national and local shutdowns on our local business communities and provides a set of recommendations for the way forward, intended for both local and state government leaders.
Current economic development policies focus primarily on expansion through job growth. Measurement of success is based solely on numbers of new jobs. This leads to local and
national policies that encourage and support big business exclusively. However, small business provides 85% of all job growth and accounts for 95% of all business in the nation.
Yet economic policies do not support the small businesses in America. In fact, many of the policies created for big business create roadblocks for small businesses. The support
of big business has led to the centralization of our economic power in a select few massive companies that compete unfairly with smaller businesses and isolate profits to the wealthy.The current pandemic has exacerbated the fault lines in economic development policies and practices by fully supporting big business while thousands of small businesses struggle.
This struggle is not just felt by the business owners but by the 100 million employees dependent on small businesses. It is imperative that we refocus economic development
not on the growth of big business but on retention of small businesses in every community in America. By directing resources and policies to small businesses building thriving
local communities, we create a healthy sustainable economic ecosystem. This, in turn, builds a strong and resilient nation.
To read the entire report, including the recommendations submitted, please click the link below.
FULL ASBC REPORT (PDF)