NEWSRELEASE
For Release: April 22, 2004
Contact: John McDowell (202) 205-6941
john.mcdowell@sba.gov
SBA Number: 04-12 ADVO
Small Business Helps Protect The Environment
Main Street Businesses Care About Their Neighbors And Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. Americas Main Street businesses are an integral part of their communities, and that means caring for the environment of their children, neighbors, and friends. This environmental stewardship is fundamental to being a successful small business, according to a statement today by Chief Counsel for Advocacy Thomas M. Sullivan.
The statement was presented to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight for their hearing "Small Businesses Creating Jobs and Protecting the Environment." Celebrating the many positive contributions small businesses make to the environment, he said in part:
Small businesses help protect the environment by being an active part of the communities where they work. These businesses know their neighbors hold them accountable for keeping the community clean and healthy. . .
Small business helps protect the environment through innovation. Advocacys economic research indicates that small businesses innovate at twice the rate of large businesses. That innovation often yields environmentally friendly products and technologies. Everyone benefits when small businesses, in an effort to improve their bottom line, create more efficient, environmentally sound products. . .
Small businesses are often clean businesses. Advocacys economic research indicates that of the 22.9 million small businesses in the U.S., 53 percent of those are home-based businesses. The majority of these home-based businesses are sales and service-oriented, with very little potential for environmental harm.
The Office of Advocacy, the "small business watchdog" of the government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues.
For the complete statement, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo.
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Created by Congress in 1976, the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. Appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy directs the office. The Chief Counsel advances the views, concerns, and interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policy makers. Economic research, policy analyses, and small business outreach help identify issues of concern. Regional Advocates and an office in Washington, DC, support the Chief Counsels efforts. For more information on the Office of Advocacy, visit www.sba.gov/advo, or call (202) 205-6533.