[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 51257-51259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20031]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 51257]]

                Proclamation 10253 of September 10, 2021

                
National Small Business Week, 2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The American entrepreneurial spirit is a defining 
                quality of our Nation which time and again has lifted 
                us to new heights and carried us through our greatest 
                challenges. Small businesses are not only the engines 
                of our economic progress--they are the heart and soul 
                of our communities. During National Small Business 
                Week, we celebrate our Nation's small businesses--the 
                pillars of their neighborhoods and towns--and all of 
                the people who dream them, build them, and make them 
                run.

                When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck last year, it 
                posed a historic challenge to America's small 
                businesses. From coast to coast, in big cities, small 
                towns, rural enclaves, and Tribal communities, small 
                business owners and workers demonstrated remarkable 
                courage and resilience, adapting to sudden changes in 
                our way of life and stepping up to serve their 
                communities. Across the country, small businesses 
                extended helping hands to their neighbors during the 
                pandemic's darkest hours, all while entrepreneurs and 
                employees worked tirelessly around the clock to keep 
                their businesses afloat, make payroll, and ensure the 
                safety of their teams and customers.

                Despite the determination of our Nation's small 
                business owners and their employees, the pandemic hit 
                them hard. Throughout 2020, empty storefronts and 
                goodbye signs hanging in windows could be found on Main 
                Streets across the country. The pizza place that your 
                kids loved best. The hardware store that always had the 
                tool you needed. The barber shop that sponsored the 
                local Little League team--and had the first dollar bill 
                it ever earned still framed on the wall. The pandemic 
                exacted an incalculable toll not only on lives and 
                livelihoods, but on far too many small business dreams 
                and family legacies.

                To ensure that these community pillars have a fighting 
                chance to reopen and stay open, my Administration is 
                delivering the loans and support that our Nation's more 
                than 30 million small businesses and innovative 
                startups need. The American Rescue Plan delivered 
                billions of dollars in economic relief to millions of 
                small businesses--including programs targeted to the 
                hardest-hit industries such as restaurants and 
                performing arts venues. We revamped the Paycheck 
                Protection Program to reach our smallest businesses, 
                with more than 95 percent of the nearly $300 billion in 
                loans made during my Administration supporting small 
                businesses with less than 20 employees, reaching a 
                higher share of businesses in rural and low- or 
                moderate-income communities than in the previous two 
                rounds of the program. Through our Restaurant 
                Revitalization Fund, we provided an essential lifeline 
                to more than 100,000 businesses across the country, 
                delivering $28.6 billion in direct support. Last week, 
                my Administration began accepting applications for an 
                improved COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan 
                program, which will put more than $150 billion in 
                funding to work offering long-term, low-interest loans 
                that small businesses can use to retain workers, make 
                rent, and pay down more expensive debt. In the American 
                Rescue Plan, we established the Community Navigator 
                Pilot program to create a network of trusted 
                organizations, local governments, and community 
                champions to

[[Page 51258]]

                help underserved small businesses navigate resources at 
                all stages of their growth.

                We have also fully vaccinated more than 64 percent of 
                adult Americans, so that more small businesses can 
                reopen their doors and welcome back their customers. My 
                Administration created a tax credit to help small 
                businesses--which employ nearly half of America's 
                private workforce--give their employees paid time off 
                to get vaccinated and recover.

                My Administration is also committed to nurturing small 
                businesses that have faced historic barriers in rural 
                and urban America, including businesses owned by 
                veterans, women, and people of color--especially Black, 
                Latino, and Asian American businesses. These 
                entrepreneurs continue to face persistent barriers to 
                the capital, markets, and networks they need to start 
                and grow their businesses, and many were left out of 
                early rounds of relief in the earlier days of the 
                pandemic.

                To help ensure that small businesses in every community 
                benefit from the Build Back Better agenda's landmark 
                investments in our infrastructure, we are strengthening 
                our contracting programs for underserved small 
                businesses. As part of this effort, I announced a 
                Government-wide goal to grow Federal contracting with 
                small, disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent, 
                translating into an additional $100 billion over 5 
                years. By ensuring that more disadvantaged small 
                businesses can compete for and win Federal contracts, 
                we can boost job opportunities and economic prosperity 
                in every corner of America.

                Our Nation's small businesses define our communities, 
                drive innovation, and create the products and services 
                that enrich our lives and solve global problems to 
                build a better and more sustainable world. By 
                harnessing the power of our small business economy and 
                equipping our entrepreneurs with the tools and 
                resources they need to innovate, adapt, and grow, our 
                economy will continue to build back better than ever 
                before. America's small businesses are up to the task.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 12 
                to September 18 as National Small Business Week. I call 
                upon all Americans to recognize the contributions of 
                small businesses to the American economy, continue 
                supporting them, and honor the occasion with programs 
                and activities that highlight these important 
                businesses.

[[Page 51259]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-20031
Filed 9-14-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P