Happy National Small Business Week!

Hello, I am Isabel Casillas Guzman and I have the honor of serving as the 27th administrator of the U.S. small Business Administration in President Biden's Cabinet. Welcome to National Small Business Week 2024. The SBA has been honoring our small businesses the first week of May for more than 60 years and this year we are celebrating National Small Business Week and an incredible entrepreneurial environment. As during the Biden Harris Administration we have seen a historic small business boom with record setting growth. There were five and a half million new business applications filed last year, bringing the record total to 16 and a half million new business applications filed since President Biden took office. The President's Invest in America agenda is working to deliver the greatest economic recovery in the world and more Americans than ever are pursuing their dreams of small business ownership. Small businesses are powering our nation, serving as the backbone of our economy and the heartbeat of our communities. I am big on small as small businesses create 2/3 of net new jobs, employ nearly half the private workforce and produce more than 40% of our economic output, they deliver the goods and services that neighbors rely on in their everyday lives. America's small businesses are rebuilding America's infrastructure for clean water, roads and bridges and sustainability. They are innovating for a clean energy economy of the future and American made manufacturing and supply chains. Small businesses are also winning a record dollar level of federal contracts, growing their companies and creating good paying local jobs. SBA's National Small Business Week is all about investing in American businesses that create jobs and fuel our economy. We will lift up our entrepreneurial successes with awards and celebrations to share inspiring stories and spotlight some of America's treasured businesses. From Main street neighborhoods to innovation hubs and manufacturing centers, all of the small businesses that strengthen communities across the nation every day. Connections and access power our small businesses. So the SBA will be connecting you to capital loans, innovation grants, investments and bonds and to revenue growth opportunities like trade, federal contracting and digital e commerce. We need all Americans with a great idea and the grit, determination and perseverance to have success starting, growing and building resilient businesses. So wherever you are on your entrepreneurial journey, we hope this week inspires you and and that you make valuable new connections, explore new ideas, learn and discover tools to help you along the way. On behalf of all of us at sba, Happy National Small Business Week.