Nine new grantees take action to Start Us Up

As small business owners continue to endure the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, money from the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program has quickly ran out and, in many cases, missed its target altogether. As Kauffman President and CEO Wendy Guillies recently wrote, “small businesses were left in danger while policies continued to favor big business.”

Policymakers at all levels of government need to take action to stabilize the economy – not bailouts for big business, but with policies that prioritize the needs of the small business sector now and in the future. To do that, they need to hear the voice of entrepreneurs and give them a seat at the table in policy debates.

This week, Jason Wiens, Kauffman’s Director of Policy, announced nine new grantees and entrepreneurship advocates to champion this work. “The grants in this portfolio will bring new ideas and new voices to policy debates so that entrepreneurship is no longer an afterthought. Together, they will level the playing field so that anyone with an idea has access to the opportunity, funding, knowledge, and support to turn it into a reality,” Wiens said.

The organizations will increase policymakers’ understanding of entrepreneurship and the barriers to new business creation to lay the groundwork for action and encourage entrepreneur voices to inform policy debates, so policymakers are more likely to understand the needs of entrepreneurs.

This advocacy is needed now more than ever.

Building on America’s New Business Plan (ANBP), Kauffman’s policy framework launched last year, we recently released “Rebuilding Better: Activating the Start Us Up Coalition in Response to COVID-19” in partnership with the coalition’s more than 160 organizations. Guillies also outlined “10 ways to make sure small businesses weather the storm and can rebuild for the long term.” We’ve also made it easy to join these new grantees and the Start Us Up Coalition to support American entrepreneurship. Text REBUILDBETTER to 52886 to share the Rebuilding Better Response to COVID-19 with your elected officials.