By Congressman Sam Graves | Small Business Committee Chairman
Every small business throughout the country is a story of someone’s hard work, a good idea, or a plan to make life better for their family. Many succeed, some don’t. We should respect the courage, risk and sacrifice required to build a business. One of the purposes of National Small Business Week is recognition of that effort, but there’s more to it. We should examine policies that are helping and hurting small business and make the appropriate changes to encourage their growth because our economy hinges on their success.

Small businesses are responsible for about half the nation’s economic output, and when it comes to jobs, small firms have an outsized impact. Small companies comprise about half of all private sector jobs in total, and lead the way in job creation with 60-to-80 percent of all new jobs, depending on the year. All told, small firms can take credit for 65 percent of jobs created over a recent 17-year span, according to the Small Business Administration.

It’s fair to say that if small businesses are thriving, then the economy is likely to be healthy. If small businesses are struggling, then the economy is not strong.

Over the past month, the latest economic information has been a mix of good news and bad. The unemployment rate has fallen, but a closer look shows far too many Americans leaving the workforce. Moreover, the economy slowed to a mere 0.1 percent growth last quarter. Throughout the very slow recovery of the past several years, the economy has never really roared back or created jobs at the pace the country needs.

Small businesses are a major part of the solution for jobs and growth. When small firms grow, the benefits spread throughout the economy. The irony is that these businesses are often treated by Washington as though they are part of the problem. During the last five years, small businesses have faced numerous roadblocks to growth, including mounting federal regulations, higher taxes, economic uncertainty, and burdensome requirements from the health care law.

As one Connecticut small business owner, Dan De Clercq, commented to the Small Business Committee through our interactive website Small Biz Open Mic, “Since ObamaCare became a discussion in 2008, our yearly premium has doubled from 113k to 220k presently. Plus our deductibles and co-pays have increased to obscene levels. Eliminate or halve my corporate income taxes, help bring my company-sponsored health care back to normal levels and I’d hire four more people.”

Dan’s not alone in his experience. A recent NFIB study shows that ObamaCare’s Health Insurance Tax will cost the economy up to 286,000 jobs, and 57 percent of those jobs would be from small businesses. Over the past five years, the cost of new regulations on the American economy has spiked by $73 billion annually. The Administration has issued a burdensome 157 new major rules, each with economic costs of $100 million or more. This government power grab is predictably not leading to robust economic growth.

Despite the state of the economy, the U.S. Senate continues to ignore nearly 40 growth and jobs bills passed by the House. These bills range from reducing red tape to ensuring access to affordable energy.

Small businesses are widely supported by Americans, but they could use some more common-sense from Washington. The nation’s 28 million small businesses don’t need new bureaucracies or more government control; they need the administration to get out of the way so they can grow.

National Small Business Week is a great time to say “thank-you” to a small business in your neighborhood and “shop small.” I also believe this week is a great reminder that if Washington is going to talk-the-talk then Washington needs to get serious about a small business growth agenda that is going to back up that rhetoric.

MWSU Media Release

Missouri Western State University students will return to Colorado this week to take part in the centennial commemoration of the Ludlow Massacre, a pivotal moment in American labor history. The students will reprise their production of “American Story,” a musical retelling of the historical events of the Colorado Coalfield War, at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 17 at the Ludlow Massacre Memorial, near Trinidad in southern Colorado, as part of statewide commemorative activities.

The Ludlow Massacre occurred on April 20, 1914, when the Colorado state militia attacked and burned a tent city housing striking mine workers who had been evicted from their company-owned homes. As many as 25 people died, shocking the nation and eventually transforming industrial worker-company relations.

To mark the centennial of this event, Colorado’s governor last year appointed a commission of historians, scholars, union members, the Colorado National Guard, archaeologists, tourism representatives and others to plan commemorative activities, exhibitions and events.

Missouri Western students performed “American Story” in Trinidad, Colo., a year ago. A member of the Ludlow Centennial Commemoration Commission contacted Dr. Laurel Vartabedian, who wrote the book and lyrics for the musical, about a return engagement tied to the centennial. The production will be part of the Ludlow Massacre Centennial Family History Day.

The performers in the current production are from Dr. Susan Carter’s Opera Workshop and include: Lauren Bergman, junior of St. Joseph; Kaitlyn Christian, senior of St. Joseph; Adrienne Collins ’14 of St. Joseph; Caleb Hazelwood, junior of St. Joseph; Jeremy Howe, sophomore of St. Joseph; Donovan Jones, junior of Tarkio, Mo.; Jacob Mills, junior of St. Joseph; and St. Joseph resident Dee Dee Squires.