Presidential Document2021-20031
National Small Business Week, 2021
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 15, 2021
Signed
September 10, 2021
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 176 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 51257-51259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20031]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 15, 2021 /
Presidential Documents
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Title 3--
The President
[[Page 51257]]
Proclamation 10253 of September 10, 2021
National Small Business Week, 2021
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The American entrepreneurial spirit is a defining
quality of our Nation which time and again has lifted
us to new heights and carried us through our greatest
challenges. Small businesses are not only the engines
of our economic progress--they are the heart and soul
of our communities. During National Small Business
Week, we celebrate our Nation's small businesses--the
pillars of their neighborhoods and towns--and all of
the people who dream them, build them, and make them
run.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck last year, it
posed a historic challenge to America's small
businesses. From coast to coast, in big cities, small
towns, rural enclaves, and Tribal communities, small
business owners and workers demonstrated remarkable
courage and resilience, adapting to sudden changes in
our way of life and stepping up to serve their
communities. Across the country, small businesses
extended helping hands to their neighbors during the
pandemic's darkest hours, all while entrepreneurs and
employees worked tirelessly around the clock to keep
their businesses afloat, make payroll, and ensure the
safety of their teams and customers.
Despite the determination of our Nation's small
business owners and their employees, the pandemic hit
them hard. Throughout 2020, empty storefronts and
goodbye signs hanging in windows could be found on Main
Streets across the country. The pizza place that your
kids loved best. The hardware store that always had the
tool you needed. The barber shop that sponsored the
local Little League team--and had the first dollar bill
it ever earned still framed on the wall. The pandemic
exacted an incalculable toll not only on lives and
livelihoods, but on far too many small business dreams
and family legacies.
To ensure that these community pillars have a fighting
chance to reopen and stay open, my Administration is
delivering the loans and support that our Nation's more
than 30 million small businesses and innovative
startups need. The American Rescue Plan delivered
billions of dollars in economic relief to millions of
small businesses--including programs targeted to the
hardest-hit industries such as restaurants and
performing arts venues. We revamped the Paycheck
Protection Program to reach our smallest businesses,
with more than 95 percent of the nearly $300 billion in
loans made during my Administration supporting small
businesses with less than 20 employees, reaching a
higher share of businesses in rural and low- or
moderate-income communities than in the previous two
rounds of the program. Through our Restaurant
Revitalization Fund, we provided an essential lifeline
to more than 100,000 businesses across the country,
delivering $28.6 billion in direct support. Last week,
my Administration began accepting applications for an
improved COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan
program, which will put more than $150 billion in
funding to work offering long-term, low-interest loans
that small businesses can use to retain workers, make
rent, and pay down more expensive debt. In the American
Rescue Plan, we established the Community Navigator
Pilot program to create a network of trusted
organizations, local governments, and community
champions to
[[Page 51258]]
help underserved small businesses navigate resources at
all stages of their growth.
We have also fully vaccinated more than 64 percent of
adult Americans, so that more small businesses can
reopen their doors and welcome back their customers. My
Administration created a tax credit to help small
businesses--which employ nearly half of America's
private workforce--give their employees paid time off
to get vaccinated and recover.
My Administration is also committed to nurturing small
businesses that have faced historic barriers in rural
and urban America, including businesses owned by
veterans, women, and people of color--especially Black,
Latino, and Asian American businesses. These
entrepreneurs continue to face persistent barriers to
the capital, markets, and networks they need to start
and grow their businesses, and many were left out of
early rounds of relief in the earlier days of the
pandemic.
To help ensure that small businesses in every community
benefit from the Build Back Better agenda's landmark
investments in our infrastructure, we are strengthening
our contracting programs for underserved small
businesses. As part of this effort, I announced a
Government-wide goal to grow Federal contracting with
small, disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent,
translating into an additional $100 billion over 5
years. By ensuring that more disadvantaged small
businesses can compete for and win Federal contracts,
we can boost job opportunities and economic prosperity
in every corner of America.
Our Nation's small businesses define our communities,
drive innovation, and create the products and services
that enrich our lives and solve global problems to
build a better and more sustainable world. By
harnessing the power of our small business economy and
equipping our entrepreneurs with the tools and
resources they need to innovate, adapt, and grow, our
economy will continue to build back better than ever
before. America's small businesses are up to the task.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 12
to September 18 as National Small Business Week. I call
upon all Americans to recognize the contributions of
small businesses to the American economy, continue
supporting them, and honor the occasion with programs
and activities that highlight these important
businesses.
[[Page 51259]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
sixth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2021-20031
Filed 9-14-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 15, 2021.
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