National Small Business Week, 2020

Proclamation 10082 of September 19, 2020

National Small Business Week, 2020

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

During National Small Business Week, we celebrate the
resolve and ingenuity of American businesses,
entrepreneurs, and workers. America's small businesses
are at the very core of our Nation's identity and
prosperity, and this week we pay tribute to these
patriots for their contributions to our Nation's
economy and culture.

This year, as we collectively recover from an
unprecedented pandemic, my Administration remains
intensely focused on helping every American enterprise
remain viable, recover, and once again, thrive at
historic levels. Our Nation's more than 30 million
small businesses, which employ nearly half the private-
sector workforce and create two-thirds of all net new
jobs, are the key to propelling our economy to the
prosperity levels America has enjoyed over the past 3
years. That is why, as part of our extraordinary,
whole-of-government economic response to the
coronavirus, we have placed the small business sector
front and center. We have delivered nearly three
quarters of a trillion dollars in timely, economic
relief to distressed small business entrepreneurs and
their employees throughout the country, including $525
billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans,
$190 billion in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans
(EIDL), $20 billion in EIDL Advance grants, and
additional healthcare funding.

Additionally, American small businesses have been
critical in revitalizing economically distressed areas.
That is why my Administration worked with Congress to
designate thousands of Opportunity Zones in underserved
communities, and as a result, we are creating
unprecedented new economic opportunities. We have also
made extraordinary strides in the cultivation of
entrepreneurship among underrepresented groups,
including women, minorities, and veterans. In fact,
under my Administration, Latinos are the fastest-
growing group of entrepreneurs. These numbers are an
important reminder that in the United States anyone who
is dedicated and hard-working is capable of achieving
their own American Dream.

Across our country, small businesses are essential to
their communities, creating jobs and giving back during
times of prosperity and challenge. My Administration is
committed to investing in small business owners, and
therefore advancing solutions that make it easier for
them to exceed their goals. During this National Small
Business Week, we celebrate the success of our American
entrepreneurs who have chartered their own courses to
provide jobs and a bright future for millions of
American workers.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 20 through
September 26, 2020, as National Small Business Week. I
call upon all Americans to recognize the critical
contributions of America's entrepreneurs and small
business owners as they grow our Nation's economy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
nineteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
fifth.