SBE Council’s Kerrigan Responds to President-Elect Biden’s Speech on the Economy and COVID-19

By SBE Council at 14 January, 2021, 9:50 pm

NEWS

For Immediate Release

Washington, D.C. - In a speech this evening, President-Elect Joe Biden outlined his Administration's plan of action for combatting COVID-19 and accelerating economic recovery. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) president & CEO Karen Kerrigan issued the following statement in response to the plan of action:

'Small business owners and entrepreneurs desperately need stability and clarity as to where the economy is headed. An economy that is fully re-opened and recovers with relative speed will save countless Main Street businesses and jobs, and provide a spark for new entrepreneurs to launch new businesses and hire. SBE Council is pleased that America's critical small business sector was mentioned in President-Elect Biden's speech, and he views our collective efforts as vital to economic recovery. Clearly, specific industries and areas of the nation have been hit harder than others, and initiatives focused on these sectors and communities will bring about a more balanced recovery.

'At the same time, timely vaccine distribution and building confidence with regard to safety are critical to ensuring that government resources directed to recovery are leveraged thoughtfully. Government resources combined with tapping the private sector in a more vigorous way to distribute the vaccine will help the economy return to 'normalcy, which is critical to small businesses. New requirements and mandates, however, that place new costs on small businesses will undermine their health and success. Dramatically increasing the minimum wage and imposing other costs would disproportionately burden small businesses, and we encourage the incoming Biden Administration to listen to entrepreneurs as to how new costs and requirements will undermine economic recovery. We look forward to working with President-Elect Biden and his team on advancing policies that bring our economy and small businesses back to healthy growth.'

CONTACT: Karen Kerrigan, [e-mail]

SBE Council is nonpartisan advocacy, research and education organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For 25 years, SBE Council has worked on and advanced a range of private sector and public policy initiatives to strengthen the ecosystem for strong startup activity and small business growth. Visit www.sbecouncil.org for additional information. Twitter: @SBECouncil

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