Blogs

On May 11, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed legislation to establish a Commonwealth-run paid family and medical leave program. Small Business Majority Virginia Council Members Monica Jackson and Shirley Modlin attended the signing ceremony in Richmond to show their support for the new program. As a childcare provider and small business owner, Monica has a unique understanding of how paid leave benefits both working families and small businesses.

When large corporations manipulate markets to gain more control, small businesses often pay the price through higher costs, fewer choices and barriers to growth. Understanding how these practices work is the first step toward advocating for a system that gives small businesses a fair chance to succeed. Read our blog to learn about laws, policy developments and what can small business owners do to curb unfair competition.

Lindsey Vigoda opened our New York office two years ago after five years with our Colorado Team. Our outreach team helps entrepreneurs on two fronts: It advocates for policies that benefit small businesses and it offers webinars and in-person events that offer entrepreneurs tips on how to grow their businesses.

What began as a warm day at a Texas outlet mall for Mia and Ondrey Lawson quickly turned into a life-changing moment. After some convincing, Ondrey reluctantly tried an Italian ice that Mia had picked up while shopping. To her surprise, he finished the entire cup, sparking a simple question: why wasn’t this refreshing treat more accessible in a place as hot as Texas?

When his high school track coach suggested he take karate lessons to overcome a mental block around increasing his speed and improving his hurdling technique, Renard Beaty was puzzled. How could learning karate help with hurdling? 

But it was there, at a local school, that Renard discovered not only martial arts but the power of discipline and building strong self-esteem, skills that would shape his life and future career. More than 40 years later, now a black belt, a father of two black-belt daughters and owner of a successful karate school in Atlanta, Renard is passing those same lessons on to his community.

Of Colorado’s 730,000 small businesses, 34,000 are Black-owned. These businesses are a quickly growing and vital element of our economy, with more than 8,600 founded in the past two years. Yet, Black-owned small businesses still face barriers to success like high healthcare costs and accessing capital.

Over the course of this year we’ve looked back at two decades of milestones, people and issues that have helped shape Small Business Majority’s work to build a thriving and inclusive economy. But for our final blog in this series, we’re looking ahead as our Founder & CEO, John Arensmeyer, shares his thoughts on where we’re going as an organization and what it will take to get there so that we can continue to help small businesses succeed for another 20 years – and beyond. 

While every entrepreneur sets out to build a successful business, a lack of reputable resources and guidance can leave even the most experienced small business owner unsure of where to start or how to sustain their growth. That’s why Small Business Majority has worked to equip small business owners with the support they need through our online resource hub, Venturize. Here, business owners can access expert guidance, safe capital and the tools they need to strengthen and scale their small businesses.

At Small Business Majority, our guiding belief is simple: the strongest policy solutions come directly from the people who run small businesses every day. Entrepreneurs know their challenges better than anyone, and they deserve a meaningful role in shaping the policies that affect their livelihoods. Our national and state-based small business councils are one way we make this possible by giving small business owners a formal platform to guide our mission, influence policy and strengthen small business ecosystems nationwide.