Chamber of Commerce CEO promotes small business: “state of American business is local”

US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne P. Clark delivered a speech Thursday on the “State of American Business” that highlighted the local impact of business and the importance of small businesses.

Small businesses are responsible for employing nearly half of the American workforce and driving approximately 43.5% of the United States’ gross domestic product (GDP), according to a Chamber report released last year. Clark’s speech emphasized the importance of small businesses — including those like franchises that some might not consider small businesses — to local economies.

“The state of American business is local because businesses serve people where they are. And if you think about it, what does all local business do,” explains Clark. “This is true, of course, of the small businesses that line Main Streets and the locally-based businesses that employ hundreds, if not thousands, of people in a community and drive its economic ecosystem.”

“It’s also true of the national chain restaurant where you got your first job. The technology company that produces the equipment and the internet service provider that together allow you to work from your kitchen table or from the your home office. The power producers that power your vehicles. so you can drive across town The institutions that provide financing so you can start a business in your basement,” Clark said.

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US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark spoke about the importance of small businesses and the local impact of all businesses in her speech. (David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“Wherever a company, a service, a product, or a solution originates, its impact is always local. Because the place is where we live our lives,” he added.

The president and CEO of the Chamber also discussed the importance of world trade to local small businesses, as well as the US economy as a whole.

“To spur economic growth, America must participate in the global economy,” Clark said. “There are opportunities to strengthen trade, which already supports 40 million jobs in the United States and makes the goods and services we all need more accessible to expand exports and help small businesses reach global markets and to welcome the imports that increase consumer choice and keep prices low.”

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Small businesses employ nearly half of all American workers, a Chamber of Commerce report noted last year. (Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Clark made his speech in Dallas, Texas, and noted that the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex share some commonalities with other economically vibrant regions in the country.

Among these characteristics are a diverse industrial base, low unemployment and a deep talent pool, as well as “a healthy mix of small businesses – serving and enriching their communities, and large businesses – which bring jobs, economic activity, and tax revenue”, more infrastructure, access to global markets and an innovation ecosystem.

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Clark delivered his speech from Dallas, Texas, and noted the attributes that have made the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex an economic powerhouse. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images/Getty Images)

She went on to note that while many communities have not experienced that level of growth, the United States should strive to ensure that communities are not left behind economically and that doing so depends on ensuring that there are favorable conditions for trade.

“We all know there are too many places, too many communities, that don’t feel the energy, that don’t see the growth,” Clark said. “We have to be a nation where local communities are not left behind. Where there are no food deserts, where crime does not exclude trade, where private investment is welcome, where young people want to stay and come back and build businesses and careers, where people can advance and provide for their families.”

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“Not every community can, should, or wants to be the next booming metropolis, but all want the economic opportunity that provides the quality of life and the promise of opportunity that all Americans desire,” he added.