Goldman Sachs delivers policy playbook for small businesses

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A new report from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices and the Bipartisan Policy Center offers a playbook to help grow the U.S. economy by tackling challenges faced by U.S.  small businesses.

According to a release, The Small Business Policy Playbook: Winning Strategies to Drive Economic Growth provides a policy strategy to increase legislative efforts to level the playing field for small businesses by giving them the tools to compete for workers, cut red tape, remove barriers that stall success, and drive tech investment and innovation.

“We are proud to partner with the Bipartisan Policy Center to provide lawmakers on both sides of the aisle with actionable policy solutions to help level the playing field for small business,” John F.W. Rogers, executive vice president of Goldman Sachs, said in a statement. “Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and will help fuel economic opportunity, growth and prosperity.”

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices is launching a football-themed advertising campaign rallying policymakers to “score a win for small businesses.”

“Republicans and Democrats agree that meaningful economic growth requires a thriving small business sector,” said Margret Spellings, President and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center.  “The Small Business Policy Playbook offers the 119th Congress and the incoming Trump Administration clear legislative recommendations for bipartisan policies that they can enact to empower small businesses to access capital, innovate, and remain competitive in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace.”

The Small Business Policy Playbook proposes actionable legislative solutions designed to empower small business ingenuity and drive economic momentum, with recommendations in three areas: workforce, cost of doing business, and innovation and opportunity.

Key recommendations include the following:

Workforce: Competing for Qualified Workers

• Benefits for Employees of Small Business: Amend the retirement startup credit and enhance the paid family leave tax credit to help small employers compete with larger corporations.

• Access to Affordable Child Care: Update childcare tax credits and strengthen programs to expand the childcare labor market in support of working parents.

• Skills Training: Encourage partnerships between the Small Business Administration (SBA) resource partners and workforce programs to offset training costs and upskill workers.

Cost of Doing Business: Removing Financial Barriers

• Access to Capital: Expand Small Business Investment Companies and revamp technical assistance for microloans and fintech financing solutions.

• Tax Policy: Reinstate full R&D expensing and maintain successful small business tax incentives.

• Regulatory Relief: Appoint and confirm a Chief Counsel for the SBA’s Office of Advocacy to ensure small businesses aren’t being held back by red tape.

Innovation and Opportunity: Sparking Growth

• Technology Investment: Ensure resource providers, such as SBDCs, are equipped to offer training and guidance on digitalization and AI.

• Federal Contracts: Further increase small business procurement goals and bolster outreach and technical assistance to prepare small businesses to compete for contracts.

• Manufacturing and Exports: Expand access to capital for manufacturers and improve investment opportunities in small manufacturers through Small Business Investment Companies.

More than 16,000 small businesses across the United States have been served by 10,000 Small Businesses. The program has reached businesses from each of the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.