It's not an easy thing, sometimes it’s an act of faith, to take that leap to start a company when you have an idea, a dream, to pursue. It always helps to have people that they can look up to, to see, and say, “If he can do it, maybe I can too.” I’m hopeful that the business leaders here today can be an example for those who want to follow in your footsteps. I’m very grateful to you for being here to share your experience with all of us.

Mayor Peterson, I thought you said something very appropriate; that is you used the word “partnership.” We’ve been fortunate to have a partnership now for many years. In my position, I get to see people work at the global level, at the national level and at the state level. In all my years of having had the privilege of representing the people of our state, having seen a wide variety of people of service in action, I have not met or seen a more caring or more effective public servant than the Mayor of Indianapolis. Bart Peterson does a wonderful job representing us day in and day out. When you’re mayor of a city, you’re on the street in real time dealing with the challenges that we face. Bart, I think you’re doing a heck of a job and I’m very proud of you.

When the recession of ‘89 and ‘90 hit, the state revenue was flat for the better part of three years, and yet we had needs for education, healthcare, environmental protection and economic development. The government needed to provide; times were tough and budgets were tight. The lesson I think that both Mayor Peterson and I took away from that was a deep understanding that when businesses are growing, when people are working, they’re providing for their families. When wages are improving, everything else is possible. It generates the money for public safety, for health care and for education. As a result, I’ve developed a deep commitment to growing jobs, to growing businesses and to a more prosperous community. That’s what today is about: helping to place people into jobs; helping small businesses grow; helping individuals who want to get better jobs acquire the skills they need to command better wages. That is why we are here in Conseco Field House today.

Through the Job Fair and Small Business Summits, we’ve been able to place more than 500 Hoosiers in jobs across Indiana. That’s a good thing. We’ve been able to help companies get started, and that’s a good thing. 97% of the businesses in our state are 100 or fewer employees, and 80% of all the new jobs that we create are created by small businesses. Fortune 500 companies tend to get most of the publicity, and, unfortunately, they tend to get most of the federal resources.

We need to change that. We need to direct those federal resources to small family businesses in our communities that are creating real jobs that our people need. Earlier today, we mentioned Small Business Innovation Research grants, or SBIR grants. My proposal would double the resources in SBIR grants that we target for smaller, family-owned businesses.

Last year, 46 companies in Indiana received these grants, totally roughly $17 million. I want to double that figure to $34 million each and every year, so 100 Hoosier small businesses will have an opportunity to grow, to expand, where otherwise they might not. That’s an investment in the future of our community.

I asked to be on the Senate Small Business Committee because I know the importance of small business to Indiana. As a member of that committee, there are other initiatives I am taking, as well, to grow small business in our state. First, we’re expanding loan systems and expanding federal consulting services to small companies. It is my goal to see small businesses contract more with the federal government. I don’t think the big companies will miss it much, but a little more businesses for smaller family businesses can really make a real difference.

Another important service offered today at the Job Fair and Small Business Summit is job training. IUPUI is here today; Ivy Tech is here today; other educational and training institutions are here today. You get paid for what you know these days, and many Hoosiers are going through a transition where they need to refresh and update their skills to get the good jobs that will improve their economic prospects. The job training offered today at Conseco Field House can help with that transition.

That leads me to the final thing that I’d like to mention today. It is greatly troubling to me that national opinion polls show that about 70% of the American people believe our country is heading in the wrong direction. For the first time in our history, a majority of Americans now believe that our children will inherit from us a world that is less prosperous and less secure than we inherited from our parents and grandparents. Americans have never believed that before.

I’d like to emphasize today that that does not have to happen. It is up to us. We can build a more prosperous, brighter future for ourselves and our kids, but it’s not going to happen by accident. It’s going to happen by those of us gathering here today to help people get the jobs that they need for their families; to help companies grow and expand; to help business create new products and services; to reinvent our economy; and to give our people the education and skills they’ll need to have a brighter future, not a lesser future. That is why we are here today. Perhaps through this venture we can convince the American people once again that we can take hold of our own destiny. Really, deep down, I think that’s what today is all about. Thank you all for making it possible.