Executive director of the Chamber of Commerce praises small businesses: ‘the state of American business is local’

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne P. Clark delivered a speech Thursday on the “State of American Business” that highlighted the local impact of business and the importance small businesses.

Small businesses are responsible for employing nearly half of the U.S. workforce and driving about 43.5% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), according to a Chamber report released last year. Clark’s speech emphasized the importance of small businesses — including those like franchises that some might not consider small businesses — to local economy.

“The state of American business is local because businesses serve people where they are. And if you think about it, that makes all jobs local,” Clark explained. “This is, of course, true for the small businesses that line Main Street and the local businesses that employ hundreds or even thousands of people in a community and drive its economic ecosystem.”

“The same goes for the national restaurant chain where you had your first job. The technology company that makes the equipment and the Internet service provider that together allow you to work from your kitchen table or home office. The energy producers that power your vehicles so that you can drive across city ​​so you can start a business in your basement,” Clark said.

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“Wherever a company, service, product or solution originates, their impact is always local. Because local is where we live our lives,” she added.

The President and CEO of the Chamber also spoke about the importance global trade small, local businesses, as well as the American economy in general.

“To foster economic growth, America must participate in the global economy,” Clark said. “There are opportunities to strengthen trade, which already supports 40 million American jobs and makes the goods and services we all need more affordable to expand exports and help small businesses reach global markets and welcome imports that increase consumer choice and keep prices low.”

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Clark gave her speech in Dallas and noted that she Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex shares some common characteristics with other economically vibrant regions of the country.

Among those characteristics are a diverse industrial base, low unemployment and a wealth of talent, as well as “a healthy mix of small businesses — which serve and enrich their communities, and large businesses — which bring jobs, economic activity and tax revenue”, she said, plus infrastructure, access to global markets and an innovation ecosystem.

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Clark went on to note that while many communities are not experiencing that level of growth, the US should strive to ensure that communities are not left behind economically and that this depends on ensuring conditions are favorable to trade.

“We all know there are too many places, too many communities that don’t feel the energy, that don’t see the growth,” she said. “We must be a nation where local communities are not neglected. Where there is no food in the desert, where crime does not crowd out trade, where private investment is welcome, where young people want to stay and return and build jobs and careers, where people can progress and secure their family.”

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“Not every community can, should or wants to be the next booming metropolis, but they all want the economic opportunity that delivers the quality of life and promise of opportunity that all Americans want,” Clark added.