Small Businesses Call for SBA to Keep Monopolies Out of National Small Business Week

Washington, DC — More than 20 partners of the Small Business Rising coalition—representing hundreds of thousands of small businesses nationwide—released a letter to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) expressing their disappointment with the agency’s past financial partnerships with monopolies—such as Amazon, Google, and Visa—for National Small Business Week (NSBW). The letter urges the agency to enlist partners who are aligned with its mission to help Americans start, grow, and build resilient businesses, not mega-corporations that use their power and dominance in the market to stifle competition from smaller competitors. 

The letter was covered in POLITICO Influence.


A letter excerpt can be found below, with the FULL LETTER AVAILABLE HERE:

“The undersigned members of the Small Business Rising write to express our disappointment with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) past financial partnerships with monopolistic corporations—such as Amazon, Google, and Visa—for National Small Business Week (NSBW). We urge the agency to enlist partners who are aligned with the SBA’s mission to “help Americans start, grow, and build resilient businesses,” not mega-corporations that use their power and dominance in the market to stifle competition from smaller competitors. 

“In 2023 and preceding years, the financial sponsors for NSBW included corporations targeted by policymakers and regulators for their predatory tactics and harms to smaller competitors and consumers. Amazon is currently the target of a complaint brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general. Along with Mastercard, Visa’s monopoly power is the focus of the 2023 Credit Card Competition Act in Congress, which would inject competition into the duopolistic credit card processing industry.  

“The very corporations identified as posing the biggest threat to our diverse network of independent businesses are given top billing to promote their products and services in the 2023 NSBW programming.” 


Signed,

American Booksellers Association

American Independent Business Alliance

American Specialty Toy Retailing Association

Cambridge Local First

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Local First Arizona

Local First Ithaca

Local Return

Love Live Local Inc

Lowcountry Local First

Main Street Alliance

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association

North American Hardware and Paint Association

Provender Alliance

Running Industry Association

Shop Local Raleigh

SMSBF

Sonoma County GO LOCAL

Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance

StayLocal, an initiative of Urban Conservancy

Workplace Solutions Association

Yorktown Small Business Association 


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