Press Releases

SBE Council’s Kerrigan Testifies before the U.S. House Committee on Small Business KEY ISSUES: Access to capital, economic and revenue growth, technology and online platforms, a proposed federal wage hike, technical support and training, access to broadband, regulatory certainty, policy stability and more. By Karen Kerrigan- Various congressional committees are now marking up the details […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest numbers on business applications serve up some optimism in terms of where entrepreneurship and our economy might be headed. First, what do these numbers tell us, and why should we care? The Census’ business formation statistics tally up Employer Identification Number (EIN) applications across the United […]

by Raymond J. Keating- No matter what data one looks at on jobs, we suffered dearly in 2020. There’s a long climb ahead to rebuild employment that will only be accomplished if we remove the obstacles placed in the path of entrepreneurship. After all, if one is serious about creating jobs, then we have to […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The monthly employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics always requires a bit more explanation than other releases on the economy given that it is based on two surveys, with payroll employment numbers coming from the establishment survey, and numbers like the employment-population ratio, labor force participation rate and […]

(Watch a full recording of the February 4 hearing here) State of the Small Business Economy in the Era of COVID-19 February 4, 2021   Testimony of Karen Kerrigan President & CEO Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council   Before the Small Business Committee United States House of Representatives   The Honorable Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman The […]

by Raymond J. Keating- Along with manufacturing, the U.S. services sector got off to a good start in 2021, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s services PMI report for January 2021. The index increased for the eighth consecutive month, and registered its highest level since February 2019. Notable were the facts that both new […]

  by Raymond J. Keating- The early takes on manufacturing in 2021 point to a very encouraging start to the year. The IHS Markit U.S. Manufacturing PMI registered a record high in January 2021 (this index goes back to May 2007), thanks to an acceleration in both output and new orders. That included the most […]

SBE Council is always pleased when our members are featured in the news, and we are especially proud of our members from Bellefontaine, Ohio area whose work rebuilding and rejuvenating this quaint small town was recently covered by Forbes.  The hard work, vision and investment of a core group of entrepreneurs has turned Bellefontaine into […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The latest report on personal income from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed growth in personal income resuming in December, after two months of rather stark declines. However, small business income clearly continues to suffer. Personal Income Grows, Small Business Income Shrinks After declining by 0.7 percent in October and […]

  by Raymond J. Keating- The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis offers the initial estimate on real GDP (gross domestic product, or the value of the goods and services produced less the value of the goods and services used up in production) for the fourth quarter and all of 2020. The […]