Spread the word: Starting a business is job creation.

By Shelley Hughes, Summer Fellow

“If one in three microbusinesses were to hire a single employee, the U.S. economy would achieve full employment.“

– Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO)

Job creation remains a hot topic in this year’s presidential election as our nation continues to tackle the unemployment crisis. At Women’s Initiative we are well aware of how microbusiness development can positively affect job growth and job creation. After all, within five years of graduating from Women’s Initiative, our clients create an average of 2.5 jobs for others.

So how can we keep track of policy issues that will keep entrepreneurs top of mind when politicians talk about job creation? Thankfully the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) makes it their mission to keep us informed on relevant issues as they advocate for policy change to support entrepreneurs.

AEO lists the following legislative proposals as key initiatives they are supporting this summer:

• The Microenterprise and Youth Entrepreneurship Development Act (H.R. 2809), introduced by Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), would strengthen the SBA’s PRIME Program and create one single access point for information on the government’s business assistance programs.
• The Entrepreneur Startup Growth Act (H.R. 3571), introduced by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), would provide grants to nonprofit microbusiness development organizations to provide tax preparation services to disadvantaged and underserved entrepreneurs.
• The Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act (H.R. 2930/S.1970), the “Crowdfund Act” would ease and simplify reporting requirement for small value investors for certain crowdfunded securities in small businesses.

Interested in helping push for this legislation? This summer the AEO released an advocacy toolkit that outlines how individuals and organizations can take part in the dialogue. Best practices and tips for engaging with elected officials is covered in more detail in AEO’s Engage and Empower Toolkit, which can be found here.