The small business community can bring people together
This piece does not focus on our legislative priorities and objectives in 2025.
It does not analyze and evaluate various policies. Other articles will highlight the work we are doing to level the playing field for small businesses, stabilize escalating property taxes, support entrepreneurs, enact meaningful licensing reforms, increase transparency on government contracts, and much more.
This piece highlights the small business community’s vital role in bringing people together and effectively advocating for our interests.
The toxic, divisive, and exhausting political climate in our country makes coalescing around solutions difficult. Social and traditional media exacerbate the situation, tearing apart people who would otherwise be aligned.
Why is the small business community well-positioned to push through the noise? Because small business owners know how to communicate, negotiate, compromise, and solve problems.
Small business owners understand that listening to many points of view often is necessary to achieve their objectives, even when everyone does not agree.
Small business owners with differing political views often do business together when its beneficial for both companies. I have rarely seen politics prevent small businesses from closing a good deal.
Small businesses also employ dedicated workforces with divergent opinions on politics and more. These employees are asked to put aside their political differences when they enter the workplace so that everyone can thrive. In most circumstances, that is exactly what happens.
How can the small business community bring people together? We can continue advocating for our interests with respect.
We can have a big tent that welcomes small business champions aligned on economic issues, even if they disagree on other matters.
We will be heading to Springfield to advocate on behalf of small businesses and local communities in the spring with folks from diverse areas and with differing political views. However, the glue that holds us together is our passion to support local businesses and neighborhoods.
We will not disparage groups or individuals that may oppose our legislative priorities. We will not berate politicians who do not embrace the legislation we are championing. Rather, we will engage in good faith and if an agreement is out of reach, zealously but respectfully press our position.
Small business owners face the same challenges regardless of their political leanings. For instance, the cost of goods and excessive health insurance premiums do not discriminate based on party affiliation. The economic uncertainty caused by constant political clashes impacts all small businesses.
This is an important time for the small business community to unite around a policy-driven agenda that will support local businesses and communities. We must expand coalitions, capture the right messaging, and drive that home.
By bringing people together, the small business community can harness our critical mass and make a huge impact on the issues that matter to us all.
• Elliot Richardson is co-founder and president of the Small Business Advocacy Council.