[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10229]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           SMALL BUSINESS' VITAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECONOMY

  Mr. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I offer a few remarks regarding 
National Small Business Week, which President Bush designated for April 
22-28, 2007. As ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship, one of my top priorities is to champion 
our Nation's small businesses and to promote their needs and concerns. 
Our top job creators deserve nothing less.
  This week, I have already discussed how Congress must solve the small 
business health insurance crisis and bolster the state of our Nation's 
small manufacturers. Today, I would like to spend a few minutes on the 
critical role small businesses play in the American economy. In the 
back of our minds, we in Congress all know how vital small businesses 
are to economic growth. But when we come to the floor to speak about 
small businesses issues, we are generally trying to fix a specific 
problem. We generally gloss over the overall impact small businesses 
have on driving our Nation's economy.
  The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, an 
independent voice for small businesses within the Federal Government, 
has published a wide variety of statistics regarding small firms. This 
data, which shows that small businesses are responsible for 50 percent 
of nonfarm economic output, or gross domestic product, clearly reflects 
how vital small businesses are to job creation and the Nation's 
economy.
  One little known fact is that small businesses represent just about 
every private-sector employer in the United States. According to the 
Office of Advocacy, which defines a small business as an independent 
employer with fewer than 500 employees, small firms represent 99.7 
percent of all employer firms. In 2005, approximately 25.8 million 
small businesses, 671,800 of which are estimated to have opened in that 
year alone, were operational and providing consumers and businesses 
with goods and services. Of these firms, 5.8 million had employees, and 
18.6 million were sole proprietorships. In contrast, there were only 
approximately 17,000 larger business in operation across the country in 
2005.
  Not only do small businesses account for just about every employer in 
the United States, but these firms are also job providers. Small 
businesses employ fully half of all private-sector workers. They also 
pay more than 45 percent of U.S. private payroll. Of the 113.4 million 
nonfarm private-sector workers in 2003, 57.4 million were employed by 
small firms with fewer than 500 employees. Notably, small businesses 
with fewer than 100 employees accounted for 41 million of that number.
  In addition to employing American workers, small businesses are also 
at the forefront of creating new jobs. Over the last decade, small 
businesses have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually. 
What is particularly interesting is that in 2003, the most recent year 
for which complete data is available, small businesses created 
1,990,326 net new jobs. In contrast, large firms with 500 or more 
employees shed 994,667 jobs. Thus, if it were not for small businesses, 
the economy would have lost jobs in 2003 instead of creating just about 
1 million new employment opportunities for America's workforce.
  It is vital to point out that the jobs small businesses are creating 
reflect the needs of a high-tech, innovative, and global marketplace. 
Small businesses have led the technological revolution and currently 
employ 41 percent of high-tech workers, including scientists, 
engineers, and information technology professionals. Moreover, small 
businesses are constantly creating new products, producing 13 to 14 
times more patents per employee than large firms. In addition, these 
patents are twice as likely as large-firm patents to be among the one 
percent most-often cited. Finally, America's small business are 
competing on a global scale, comprising 97 percent of all identified 
exporters and producing 28.6 of total exports in 2004.
  The fact is small businesses are the driving force behind our 
Nation's economic growth creating nearly three-quarters of all net new 
jobs and employing nearly 51 percent of the private sector workforce. 
These are the reasons it is so essential that we in Congress continue 
to support small businesses' ability to grow and expand so that our 
economy can accelerate forward and create more jobs. I hope we keep 
this in mind when we come to the floor to fight for fewer regulations, 
a lower tax burden, and more affordable and accessible health insurance 
for small businesses and their employees.

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