Gina Schaefer, Small Business Rising Member, speaks at a conference series hosted by The Open Markets Institute on Busting the Big Myths of Antimonopoly Reform. She discusses how Amazon has increasingly controlled the supply chain, how the giant tracks people's data to use to their advantage, and how a more competitive market would allow small businesses to thrive.
Statement from Coalition Representing More Than 150,000 Small Businesses on Amazon’s Possible Criminal Obstruction of Congress
The following statement was issued today by Small Business Rising, a coalition of nearly thirty national and local associations representing over 150,000 small and independent businesses, in response to a letter from Members of the House Judiciary Committee urging the U.S. Justice Department to investigate potentially criminal conduct by Amazon and its senior executives.
"We applaud the House Judiciary Committee Members for their leadership and commitment to addressing Amazon’s growing monopoly power and commend the Committee for its letter urging the U.S. Justice Department to investigate potentially criminal conduct by Amazon and its senior executives.
Small Business Rising Member Calls for NY Antitrust Action
Natasha Amott, member of Small Business Rising and owner of Whisk, a kitchen store in Brooklyn, wrote the following op-ed in the New York Daily News. Amott calls on New York state legislators to support the 21st Century Antitrust Act, which would strengthen the state’s antimonopoly enforcement and help create a level playing field for small businesses.
Podcast Highlight: Dismantling the Oppression Economy and Building a Liberation Economy
Last year, Liberation in a Generation released a report titled “Antimonopoly Activism: Reclaiming Power through Racial Justice”, focusing on how corporate concentration impacts people of color and how racial justice is a key component in antitrust reform. Small Business Rising founding member ILSR highlighted a conversation with LibGen co-founders and co-executive directors , Jeremie Greer and Solana Rice, on working to dismantle the current oppression economy.
Jeremie Greer states that “The way to address all of this is that we have to put more political power in the hands of people of color so they can influence the governmental structures.”
Listen to the Building Local Power Miniseries Episode below:
Statement from Coalition Representing More Than 150,000 Small Businesses on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act
Today, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Chuck Grassley, with 12 bipartisan co-sponsors, passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary by a vote of 16-6.
In response, Small Business Rising released the following statement:
“We applaud the Committee for voting to send this crucial legislation to the full Senate, and we commend Senators Klobuchar and Grassley, and their bipartisan coalition of co-sponsors, for introducing this bill and fighting for it.
“We believe this legislation, aimed at eliminating the dangerous self-preferencing and discrimination of the Big Tech monopolies, is a critical first step in reining in their outsized power.
“Concentrated market power is the single biggest threat facing independent, small businesses. America’s small businesses are the backbone of our local economies and our local communities — and, yet, every day we lose more independent businesses because of the abusive and anti-competitive tactics of monopolistic corporations like Amazon.
“We look forward to working with the bill’s co-sponsors, and the rest of the Senate, to further strengthen this landmark legislation and ensure its passage. And we look forward to working with lawmakers in the Senate to introduce and enact additional measures, including structural separation legislation, to remove the underlying conflicts of interest that give rise to the tech giants’ anti-competitive behavior in the first place.”
Who We Are: Small Business Rising is a coalition of nearly 30 small business organizations representing over 150,000 independent businesses. The coalition formed in 2021 to advance anti-monopoly policies and safeguard the ability of small businesses to compete and serve the needs of their communities.
Small Business Rising Member Joins White House Meeting to Discuss Big Tech
Small Business Shoppers Have a Holiday Message for Congress
This holiday season, small businesses and their customers are urging Congress to support Main Street by reining in the outsized power of Big Tech.
Through in-store posters and flyers, and on social media, businesses are inviting their customers to contact their member of Congress and join the campaign for a level playing field.
Help spread the message:
Small Business Rising Joins New Coalition Calling for Passage of Landmark Antitrust Bill in New York State
The sweeping reforms would simplify and strengthen New York’s antimonopoly laws, and would expand what kinds of harmful conduct the law can address. Among other measures, the Twenty-First Century Antitrust Act would:
Lead to clear, bright-line rules prohibiting abusive and anti-competitive tactics by dominant corporations
Place New York at the cutting edge of combating monopolies and curbing corporate power by fundamentally redefining what constitutes dominance by a single firm
Allow lawsuits against corporations that act unilaterally to stifle competition — an expansion of current law which defines anticompetitive conduct as occurring only when two or more companies are collaborating or conspiring to restrain competition
Statement from Coalition Representing More Than 150,000 Small Businesses on the Big Tech Acquisitions Legislation Unveiled Today in the U.S. Senate
***Statement***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Virgil McDill, vmcdill@ilsr.org, 202.294.9187
WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 5, 2021) - Statement from Small Business Rising on the introduction of the Platform Competition and Opportunity Act of 2021, legislation that would set a high bar for acquisitions and mergers by Big Tech firms.
“We applaud the leadership of Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Tom Cotton on this legislation which will help to restore vitality to our digital markets and level the playing field.
“Right now, Big Tech’s stranglehold is killing America’s small, independent businesses. Anti-competitive mergers are one of the key ways that Amazon, Facebook, and Google have gained control over our digital markets and used that power to exploit small businesses through predatory terms and outrageous fees.
“America’s independent businesses and entrepreneurs cannot succeed in a world where the tech giants are allowed to remain all-powerful gatekeepers. Along with structural separation and nondiscrimination legislation, this bill is a key legislative step to ensure that independent businesses have a chance to compete and thrive.
“Our coalition, representing more than 150,000 independent businesses, urges Congress to move swiftly to restore competition, innovation, and fairness into our digital markets by passing the Platform Competition and Opportunity Act of 2021 and other anti-monopoly measures.”
About Small Business Rising
Small Business Rising is a coalition of over twenty national and local associations representing over 150,000 small and independent businesses from all corners of the country, united around the goals of reining in monopoly power and urging policymakers to build an economy that is more prosperous, equitable, and innovative.
Watch: Small Business Owners Speak Out About Big Tech
Gina Schaefer, owner of 13 ACE Hardware Stores in the DC area, and David Guernsey, CEO and Founder of Guernsey Incorporated, share why they believe it’s time for legislators to take action and rein in the power of Big Tech — before it’s too late.
Watch the videos: