Last week, Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, and Representative Mark Alford (R-MO) held a roundtable in Kansas City, Missouri. The event, titled “Main Street at Work: Empowering Small Businesses to Deliver Greater Affordability,” brought together small business owners to discuss their needs and challenges.
The roundtable was the first in a series called "The Open Road: Small Business Conversations Across Main Street America." Its purpose is to collect direct feedback from entrepreneurs across the country.
“Our Open Road roundtable in Kansas City reinforced what we know to be true: small businesses are the engine of the American economy,” said Chairman Williams. “Hearing directly from small business owners about the challenges they face keeps the Committee’s work grounded in real-world experience. These conversations will continue to shape our efforts to cut red tape, lower costs, and ensure Main Street businesses have the freedom to grow and succeed.”
"From family shops to growing startups, small businesses are where innovation and opportunity begin. Our goal is simple: remove the obstacles and let them thrive. I’m grateful to the entrepreneurs and job creators across MO-04 who showed up, shared their stories, and continue investing in our communities every single day,” said Congressman Mark Alford.
During the discussion, Chairman Williams highlighted recent committee actions aimed at helping small businesses by reducing regulations and increasing support through programs such as those run by the Small Business Administration (SBA). He noted that bipartisan cooperation has led to 30 bills passing out of the House intended to make federal processes more efficient for business owners.
Williams stated: “Over the past year, this Committee has been working to lower costs for Main Street by reducing red tape and restoring guardrails at the SBA. We have oversight of the SBA—the Small Business Administration—and it’s doing great. I mean, we’ve seen huge growth. We’re seeing a lot of regulations released. We even raised the limit the other day from 5 million to 10 million for small businesses to start or expand. We’re becoming very Main Street friendly, and the SBA is doing a great job. When I talk about bipartisanship, we’ve passed 30 bipartisan bills out of the House—30—to make the federal government work more efficiently for our small businesses nationwide, and to make sure that we compete against each other and not compete against the federal government. We don’t need to be doing that, and we’re trying to make that happen.”
Rep. Alford emphasized Kansas City's history with entrepreneurship while encouraging honest discussions about current barriers facing local companies: “America is made up of small businesses. It is the fabric of America. It always has been, and Kansas City was built around small business... Today’s roundtable is an opportunity for us here to listen... As moderator, my goal is very simple: to have an honest and productive discussion about the challenges facing small businesses and opportunities ahead."
Representative Downing also participated in sharing his perspective as both a legislator and a business owner involved in manufacturing apparel products domestically as well as distilling spirits using Montana-sourced ingredients. He pointed out difficulties such as access to capital faced by many entrepreneurs.
“Well, everybody here understands that small businesses grow the economy, create jobs, and that’s not a partisan issue," said Rep. Downing. "I’m glad we have colleagues with whom we can work to find solutions so small businesses can thrive... I understand these problems... one of biggest issues is access to capital... A lot of things we are looking at with reforms of SBA ...are how do we make it easier for a small business ...to finance what they are doing so they can grow economy..."
The committee plans further stops across different regions as part of its ongoing outreach efforts.
