Jeanne Shaheen: “Small businesses in New Hampshire and across the country, as Senator Landrieu has said, are struggling. Of the jobs lost…”

“Small businesses in New Hampshire and across the country, as Senator Landrieu has said, are struggling. Of the jobs lost last year, almost 40 percent came from businesses with 50 or fewer employees. While we have taken important steps to bring back the economy from the brink of depression, sales and consumer demand are still too low and too many small business owners remain frozen out of credit markets. This economy is not going to fully recover until our small businesses fully recover. In the past, it has been small businesses that have created most of the jobs coming out of a recession, and this recovery is going to be no different. If we want to see job growth in this country, we need to take action to help small businesses get back on their feet. Now, as a former small business owner, I know it is business and not government that creates jobs and drives innovation and new ideas. But I also know government has an important role to play in helping small business create jobs, especially in these very difficult economic times.”