EXCLUSIVE — A new survey of 10,000 small business owners from rural parts of the country found that 76% are concerned about their ability to access capital.
The study from Goldman Sachs found 54% of respondents want lawmakers to address inflation, 38% want increased access to capital, and 38% want support in offering competitive benefits.
The investment banking company is bringing in 60 small business owners from rural communities to the nation’s capital to meet with lawmakers on Wednesday and advocate for their help in addressing the unique challenges they face. The fly-in is an extension of Goldman Sachs’s 10,000 Small Business Voices, which provided a $100 million investment in rural communities.
“Rural small businesses are engines of economic growth and job creation, and that’s why it’s critical for policymakers in Washington to understand the challenges they face,” David Soloman, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “If we can create a favorable operating environment and policy landscape, small businesses will thrive, and communities across America will benefit.”
According to the survey results, the small businesses said they want lawmakers to cut regulatory red tape, preserve and enhance tax incentives, and support child care for employees. The survey found 70% of respondents found attracting employees to live and work in rural areas challenging in comparison to 42% in suburban areas and 45% in urban areas.
Jenny Steffensmeier, president of Steffensmeier Welding and Manufacturing in Pilot Grove, Iowa, said she is advocating to be on a “level playing field” as other major businesses in her area. She took over the business 10 years ago after her husband died and has a staff of 13. She also launched a second small business with her daughter, selling decorative exercise weights.
“It’s all about competitive loans — the relationship with my banker has been huge, but it’s, you know, it’s got to be competitive interest rates, if it doesn’t make sense, then I can’t do it,” Steffensmeier said, speaking to the Washington Examiner. “I think the ask is that even though I’m small, I need to be on the same level playing field.”
Steffensmeier and other small business owners will meet with lawmakers as they debate expiring tax provisions, regulatory changes, and other legislative efforts.
The group is advocating for Congress to “maintain successful business tax incentives and expand tax credits” that support the rural workforce, such as the employer-provided child care tax credit. They are urging lawmakers to “prioritize certainty in the 2025 tax debate over temporary extensions or changes.” This comes as the House and Senate have been ramping up debate over whether tax cuts should be permanent.
They also are advocating that the Senate confirm the chief counsel to lead SBA’s Office of Advocacy and represent small business interests. The Senate will hold a confirmation hearing to consider Dr. Casey Mulligan to serve in the role on Wednesday in addition to William Briggs to serve as the deputy administrator of SBA.
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The study also found that 52% of rural small businesses are using artificial intelligence. That’s 11 percentage points lower than business owners in suburban areas and 9 percentage points lower than urban small businesses. Forty-seven percent of rural small businesses say their communities do not have enough affordable child care programs and find it to be a challenge in attracting workers to live in their communities.
“We want lawmakers to understand that we want to have a relationship with them, so that line of communication, it’s critical that we have it with them, so that they can understand what our struggles and our asks are,” Steffensmeier said.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
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