[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 76 (Thursday, June 5, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S5374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SMALL BUSINESS WEEK 1997

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, as we mark the annual celebration 
of Small Business Week, I take great pleasure in acknowledging the 
achievements of the estimated 22.1 million small businesses in this 
country. Small businesses play an integral role in the American 
economy, generating half the gross domestic product, and driving 
America forward in terms of product development, employment, and 
ingenuity.
  Small businesses employ more than 50 percent of our private work 
force and have been credited with the creation of two out of every 
three jobs. Studies have also shown that they produce more than twice 
as many significant innovations per employee as large firms. But beyond 
the statistics, the successes of small businesses continue to prove 
that the American dream is still a reality.
  Small businesses provide most American workers with their first jobs. 
And for each job that a small business creates, one more American has 
the opportunity to prosper. Small businesses also play a major role in 
moving our economy forward, creating jobs, generating revenue, and 
developing new products and services that keep American business on the 
cutting edge.
  In my own State of Maryland, we have seen the extraordinary things 
that can be accomplished when creative entrepreneurs are determined to 
succeed. I want to share just a few of those stories.
  The 1997 Maryland Small Business Person of the year is Jamie Clark, 
who began his Internet service company, ClarkNet, out of a family barn 
in Ellicott City, MD. Jamie is deaf, and recognized the Internet as a 
powerful resource, a place where he and other deaf people could conduct 
business as easily as the hearing. With a $35,000 loan and three 
volunteers, who were also deaf, Jamie built a company that today 
employs well over 30 people and had sales totaling $2.5 million last 
year, up from less than $60,000 when ClarkNet began just 4 years ago.
  As someone with deep roots in Maryland--Jamie's grandfather was a 
circuit court judge in Howard County and his father a State senator for 
24 years, 4 of those as president of the Senate--Jamie is an active 
member of the community, serving on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing 
Entrepreneurs Council, the Howard County Chamber of Commerce, the 
Better Business Bureau, and the Baltimore-Washington Venture Group.
  Maryland's Small Business Exporter of the Year last year, Bruce 
Lawson of Finksburg, MD, has turned a hobby into a business that is an 
industry leader. Bruce started his company, Brass Instruments, after 
helping his father--a retired french horn player in the Baltimore 
Symphony Orchestra--repair his friends' musical instruments. Appalled 
at the quality of the horns they were repairing, Bruce started making 
horns himself. Today, Brass Instruments is the top french horn maker in 
the world.
  Another former Maryland Small Business Person of the Year is Dorothy 
White, of Columbia, MD, who started cleaning houses when her husband 
fell ill. Dorothy's work was so impressive that her employers began 
asking her to clean their offices as well. What evolved was Dorothy's 
multimillion-dollar business, Miracle Services. Like many Maryland 
businesses, Dorothy's company also has flourished under the 8(a) 
program, through which she has received numerous Government contracts.

  The 1995 Regional Small Business Exporter of the Year also hails from 
Maryland. After immigrating from Poland to Baltimore, Jon Sakowski 
realized that plastic piping could make all the difference in Poland's 
plumbing system. When he could not find a Polish buyer who could afford 
the product, Jon began installing the piping for free in Poland's 
churches, schools, and hospitals. Then, taking a major financial risk, 
Jon exported the piping to Poland--without a buyer--and warehoused it 
himself, selling the piping off piece by piece rather than in bulk.
  We in Maryland are very proud of individuals like Jamie Clark, Bruce 
Lawson, Dorothy White, Jon Sakowski and the many other operators of 
small businesses in our State who, often beginning with very little, 
have accomplished so much. More than 97.8 percent of Maryland's full-
time firms have fewer than 500 employees, and there are an additional 
131,000 individuals who are self-employed. The significance of these 
businesses to Maryland's economy is evident in study after study, such 
as the Small Business Administration's recent report that Maryland 
firms with fewer than 20 employees increased employment by 10.4 percent 
between 1991 and 1995.
  Minority-owned businesses also have made great strides in recent 
years. Between 1987 and 1992, Maryland's number of women-owned 
businesses rose by 48.7 percent, its number of African-American owned 
firms rose 65 percent and its number of Hispanic-owned firms rose 148.7 
percent.
  Yet despite this progress, much remains to be done. Minority-owned 
firms in Maryland are selling 30 percent below the national average, 
and bankruptcies and failures have increased. Given the important 
economic and social roles played by minority-owned businesses, it is 
essential that we strengthen our efforts to help these underserved 
markets succeed.
  Mr. President, as someone who has benefited personally from the 
opportunities afforded to small business in this country--I spent my 
youth working in my parents' Greek restaurant on Maryland's Lower 
Eastern Shore--I know how important it is to small business owners, 
employees, and customers that they continue to thrive. Small business 
success not only translates into jobs and economic growth, it also 
translates into a sense of pride and self-respect on the part of owners 
and workers and the heartening affirmation that the American dream is 
still alive.

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