Chamber of Commerce CEO touts small business: 'State of American business is local'

foxbusiness.com:

Making Money host Charles Payne explains the significance of a phenomenal new small business report.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne P. Clark delivered a speech Thursday on the «State of American Business» which highlighted the local impact of businesses and the importance of small businesses.

Small businesses are responsible for employing nearly half of the American workforce and driving about 43.5% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), according to a Chamber report published 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, that makes all business local,» Clark explained. «That's true, of course, of the small businesses that line Main Streets and the locally headquartered businesses that employ hundreds, or even thousands, of people in a community and drive its economic ecosystem.»

«It's also true of the national chain restaurant where you had your first job. The tech company that produces the equipment and the internet service provider that together enable you to work from your kitchen table or your home office. The energy 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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U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark touted the importance of small businesses and the local impact of all businesses in her speech. (David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty